Mighty no 9: To Feel Again
by SapphireLibra3
Summary: Three months after Trinity, a new team called Team Blitz begins dominating the Battle Colosseum with their unique ability to harness the intensity of their emotions as weapons. Meanwhile, Call is beginning to experience emotions she shouldn't possess. When the mysterious Team Blitz show signs of dangerous activity, Beck has no choice but to assume the role of hero once again.
1. Chapter 1

**Just so you all know, I greatly enjoyed Mighty no. 9, so this story is made with absolute love. Without much information to go on in terms of the story, I'm taking a few liberties in where things would end up going. I hope Inafune Sensei makes the sequel soon, this game could be improved greatly with a second story.**

 **Until then, I'm going to try and tackle what I feel is a follow up to the original game.**

Chapter 1

 _Date: July 15, 20xx_

 _Entry: Dr. Sanda has requested that I begin to log my thoughts. As such, I will now use my internal logging systems to record my thoughts onto memory files for later printing and storage, though I do not see the value in this action. Dr. Sanda says that he will not read my entries, nor am I to share them with anyone else._

 _If that is the case, what is the point? This does not compute._

 _Disregard previous thoughts. Proceed with original entry point._

 _It has been approximately 3 months, 15 days, 6 hours, and 25 minutes since the Trinity Incident. Since then, there have been multiple reports of various robot malfunctions throughout the world. Professor White hypothesizes that it is left over contamination from Trinity herself._

 _In order to deal with these threats, the Mighty Numbers have been converted into more of a defense team as opposed to mere entertainers. Beck naturally is a part of all operations due to his xel purification function. However, due to recent developments, it has been discovered that Beck performs better when my presence is within the vicinity. As such, I have been requested to join Beck in his missions and battles within the Colosseum._

 _Though I still find Beck's mannerisms pointless, and inefficient, I cannot deny that there is a certain aspect of him I find intriguing. Though I do not possess emotions to articulate any preference of his company, I do not find him as much of a nuisance as I originally hypothesized._

 _Though, the way he tends to stare at me is rather odd._

 _Currently objective, investigate the strange sounds and mysterious robot deaths reported in the abandoned factory in the eastern quadrant, point 14. Evidence of the Vermilion Destroyer has been spotted as well. Mighty no. 6 Aviator has already been deployed to investigate the area. Beck and I are prepared to deploy as well._

 _Ending Log_

 _Signature: Call_

* * *

It was amazing how much the world had changed over the years. Places that were once abandoned and barren were now utilized for various uses, including but not being limited to urban. At the same time though, places that were once big metropolises had long since been abandoned and were now the resting grounds of some of the most dangerous robots.

So it came to no surprise that the Vermilion Destroyer had been spotted here.

Two streams of light shot down from the sky and took form next to each other. One blue light turned into Beck, who materialized in mid air as his xels formed his body. The other light was hot pink and materialized into Call, who materialized on the ground spinning around elegantly.

"Beck, Call, can you two read me?" the voice of Dr. White asked from their intercoms.

"Loud and clear, Professor," Beck said as he and Call looked around, "We don't see the factory anywhere."

"Sorry about that, Beck. We weren't sure if it was safe for you to be too close to the factory, so we set you down on a cliff looking down from it. If you proceed forward, you two should be able to see it," Dr. White said. Beck and Call nodded to each other and walked forward, stopping at the end of the cliff. There they saw the factory, which hadn't been used in centuries from the looks of it.

"Confirmed," Call said.

"Ooh, I don't know about this, William," Dr. Sanda said from the lab, "I know Beck is strong and all, but Call could get hurt."

"Don't worry Sanda," Dr. White assured, "Beck is perfectly capable of protecting Call. I wouldn't have sent both of them otherwise."

"Besides, Call and I are partners," Beck said proudly, "She and I look out for each other always, right?"

Beck smiled at Call, but naturally she simply looked at him in her usual blank and mechanical manner.

"Affirmative. Our performance is much more efficient when we are working together," Call said. Beck smiled awkwardly laughing a bit. Sometimes it was really hard to tell if she liked him at all.

"Mmm, alright, but be careful Call," Dr. Sanda said, "Remember, Beck is built for combat."

"There is nothing to worry about, Dr. Sanda. Beck will protect me. He always does," Call said.

And there it was, the thing that confused Beck to no end when it came to Call. One minute it seemed like she was merely looking at him as an asset to her mission, but the next minute she was saying things like that. He had asked Dr. Sanda once if she had the same AI as him and his older siblings. Apparently, she was perfectly automated just like them, she just didn't have emotions. That sort of confused Beck, but that meant that she _was_ with him of her own free will.

Beck and Call looked down at the factory, where they also saw Aviator flying around in a large circle over the building.

"Alright, you ready?" Beck asked Call, holding out his hand like always. Also just like always, Call turned to him with her usual mechanical expression, and _took_ his hand tightly.

"Ready," Call said. The two of them jumped down together, sliding on the side of the cliff safely to the entrance of factory. Immediately Aviator flew around them.

"Hey Beckers! You and Call 911 got here just in time! It's crazy in there I tell you! Absolutely CRAZY! Most of the robots in the outer section of the factory have been torn to _pieces_! Any robots entering this area need to be careful of ravenous, robot eating beasts!" Aviator said, as usual sounding like the news anchors he idolized so much.

"Did you happen to see Ray anywhere?" Beck asked hopefully.

"Sorry Baby Beck, but I didn't," Aviator said, finally calming down and looking sympathetically, "But that doesn't mean she isn't in there."

"Avi is right Beck," Dr. White chimed in, "Don't get discouraged. I'm sure we'll find her."

"Yeah, I hope so," Beck said looking down sadly. All through this exchange Call looked at both Beck and Aviator in confusion, "Alright, let's get going. Avi, you should stay out here just in case."

"You got it Chief. You and Call be careful," Aviator said before flying up in the air, probably to be on the lookout for any other hazards. As Beck walked into the factory, Call eyed him suspiciously before following after him.

"Question," Call said, "Why does Mighty no. 6 talk like that all the time?"

"Huh?" Beck said, snapped out of his daze, "Oh, you mean like a news anchor?" Call nodded, "Avi idolizes news casters because of how quick they relay information, so he likes to pretend he's a news caster."

"Pretend? So he was not programmed to talk like that?" Call asked.

"Not that I'm aware of," Beck said, "I'm pretty sure he's programmed the same way as me, so everything pertaining to his personality was generated naturally."

Call frowned a bit looking troubled, "I do not understand, Beck. Why does he not simply relay information straight out?"

"Probably because that would be boring," Beck said, "Not everything is about efficiency, Call."

It looked like Call was having serious trouble with that, but she shrugged and let it go after a minute.

The inside of the factory was grotesque to say the least. Just like Aviator said, there were robots everywhere, and it looked like they had been ripped apart. Beck knelt down next to one of them and examined it.

"This isn't Ray," Beck said.

"How are you sure?" Call asked.

"Ray absorbs the robot's entire being, just like I do," Beck said, "She's destructive, but she's actually really neat. This is just mindless killing."

"Does that mean that Ray isn't there?" Dr. Sanda asked.

"Not necessarily," Dr. White said, "The reports described a red robot similar to Beck's design, which sounds just like Raychel. Beck, Call, you two be careful. We don't know what mood she'll be in if we run into her."

"Right," Beck said. He and Call walked deeper into the factory. They stopped when they heard a blood curling scream of anger and pain.

"That's her!" Beck shouted, immediately running forward with Call right next to him.

They heard a loud crash, and the door in front of them exploded. Ray fell out of the door landing on the floor in front of them.

"Ray!" Beck shouted kneeling down next to her. Call looked down at her, but then ran forward holding her hands out.

"Barrier," she stated, putting up her energy barrier just in time to defend herself, Beck, and Ray from a red laser. The robot that shot at them stepped out slowly, being a large gray construction robot with two large hands and lasers on the sides of its head, "Beck, my scans indicate that this robot it the source of the destruction here."

"What's the contamination level?" Beck asked stepping forward next to Call.

"Contamination shows to be at sixty percent," Call said, lowering her shield.

"Damn it! It's too high for an immediate purification," Beck said.

"This thing… is _mine…_!" Ray said, forcing herself to her feet and stepping in between Beck and Call.

"Hold on, you're hurt!" Beck said, "Let us fight this while you-"

"NO! This pain is nothing compared to the pain I feel every day!" Ray shouted, "Mmm…! Hungry…! So… very hungry…!"

"Ray…" Beck said looking at Ray sadly. He knew why she was like this, as she needed xels in order to live, but that didn't make it any better, especially knowing that it was partially his fault for not being able to cure her.

The construction robot raised its fist and slammed them down, but all three of the robots rolled away, Beck and Call to the left and Ray on the right.

Ray glared at the construction robot and fired her mouth beam at it. That seemed to knock it back a bit, but it didn't do any major damage. Ray gave out a cry of frustration, showing that she had probably been at this for a while.

Beck turned to the construction robot and fired at it with his arm cannon. At the same time, Call pulled out her bow and fired at as well. The robot turned to them and fired its lasers at them, knocking both of them back.

"Call, get to higher ground," Beck requested, "See if you can find a weak spot."

"Affirmative," Call said. She ran off, using her jet pack to fly to a raised platform. Ray charged at the construction robot and slashed at it wildly, and once it's xels started to come unstable, Beck charged into it with his acXeleration power, absorbing a bit of its xels and knocking it back. The robot charged up and swiped its arm, knocking Beck and Ray into walls.

As they slowly rose to their feet, Call managed to get to a platform behind the robot and scanned it. It looked like its armor was self repairing, even with Beck acXelerating into it. She needed to figure out how it was healing.

And she needed to think fast, because Beck and Ray weren't looking too good.

She traced its energy back to what appeared to be something deeper within the factory. She turned and ran off, leaving Beck and Ray to fight alone.

"Did your partner just leave us, Predator?" Ray asked, one eye closed in pain.

"Call sees something we don't," Beck said, "Don't worry, Ray. Call would never abandon me. For now, just keep absorbing its xels."

The way Ray smiled was terrifying, but the few times they ran into each other Beck was happy to see that smile. It meant that she was happy, and that was all Beck wanted, even if the thing making her happy was something absolutely horrendous.

As they continued to fight, Call followed the energy pattern to an old computer that managed to still function. She walked over to the control panel and typed on it.

"Dr. Sanda, it appears the construction robot is linked to this computer, which is constantly feeding it xels to regenerate," Call explained.

"Hmm… do you think you can shut it down?" Dr. Sanda asked. Call attempted to log in, but as she expected, she was locked out.

"Negative. Not without hacking, and that would take too much-" she stopped at the sound of Ray's scream of pain, followed by a loud crash. She turned and looked in the main section of the factory and saw Beck on one knee holding his shoulder in pain looking up at the construction robot.

The robot raised its fist, and in what felt like slow motion for Call, punched Beck so hard that he flew into the wall behind where Ray was lying down injured, leaving an actual imprint in the wall.

"BECK!" Dr. White and Dr. Sanda both cried at the same time. Something odd was happening to Call when she saw that. She felt herself suddenly get a rush of energy, but at the same time it became hard to think. Her eyes moved to the construction robot, and she felt her "heart" start racing, along with a hot feeling building up within her. Critical thinking, which was her strongest point, became impossible, and for a second she feared that she had contracted a virus, but for some reason, she didn't really care at the moment.

She tightened her fists, and glared at the construction robot gritting her teeth. Before she even knew what she was doing, she screamed out loud, almost like Ray normally would.

"C-Call?!" Dr. Sanda asked, "William, I think something's wrong with Call!"

"Hold on! Let me check!" Dr. White said, "These readings are weird! I-I-I don't know what's going on!"

Call, suddenly not caring about finesse or being neat, fired an arrow at the computer, instantly destroying it. She then ran toward the offending robot and fired at it rapidly with her arrow, actually making it fall to its knees and destabilize.

Ray used that as her chance to roll into it with her version of acXeleration, absorbing part of its xels and seeming to heal herself a bit, as she looked a little more relaxed. Call on the other hand continued to fire at it with her laser arrows, screaming the entire time.

"Call! Answer me Call! What's happening?! Call!" Dr. Sanda cried frantically. Oddly, Call didn't answer back. She found that she didn't _want_ to answer back. She just wanted to hurt this construction robot. That was her main objective.

Even Ray stopped and looked at Call frowning. At that moment, Beck slowly rose up and staggered over to Ray's side, looking at Call in shock.

"C-Call…?" Beck asked. The robot destabilized from her attacks, yet for some reason Call wouldn't stop. If she didn't stop soon she'd destroy it.

"Beck, purify the robot and then retrieve Call!" Dr. White ordered, "Something is wrong with her!"

"Got it Professor!" Beck said, turning to Ray, who just looked away.

"I already had my fill," she said harshly, "You can have this one, Predator."

Rather than try and once again correct Ray, Beck simply acXelerated into the robot, absorbing the rogue xels before jumping back, still glowing.

"Come on! Snap out of it, NOW!" Beck shouted, sending green xels from his body into the construction robot, who fell down unconscious. Call on the other hand, threw her bow down and was about to rush at the robot, but Beck immediately ran over to her and grabbed her arm.

"Whoa! Call, calm down!" Beck cried. At the sound of Beck's voice, whatever possessed her vanished, and Call immediately returned to normal.

"Beck. You are still functioning," Call said.

"Y-yeah, I am," Beck said, "Call, are you alright? What happened just now?"

"I…" Call looked down in confusion, "I do not know."

"Hmph, another waste," Ray said folding her arms, "Oh well."

As she turned to leave, Beck ran up behind her.

"Ray, wait!" Beck called out stopping her, "Listen, I'm sorry I wasn't able to cure you. But… if you give me some time, I might be able to-"

"You didn't fail me, Bill failed me," Ray said, "But that's alright. I'm stable enough now to think clearly."

"Maybe the professor can figure out how to fix you! Just come back with us and-"

"No!" Ray shouted, "He failed me once, I won't let him fail me again! I'll see you again soon, Predator."

As Ray sauntered off, _actually_ swaying her hips a bit with each step, Beck looked down with a slight frown.

"Beck!" he called out, "You can call me Beck!"

Ray simply waved with her index and middle fingers, and walked out of the factory. Beck turned back to where Call was and saw her looking up at the remains of the computer.

"Did you do this?" Beck asked Call standing next to her.

"I do not know what came over me," Call said, "I would never destroy a computer this old that was still working. Because of me, we lost valuable data."

"Hey, that's okay," Beck said putting a hand on her back, "I'm just glad you're safe."

Call nodded to Beck, but she still looked troubled. They were silent the whole way back to SANDA Tech, but Call wouldn't let go of Beck's hand the entire way. Neither one of them was aware of the shadowy figure watching them from above.

"Looks like even the best programs break down at some point," the figure said, what appeared to be a cat tail swishing back and forth behind them, "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I thought."

* * *

"Oh my God, are you two alright?!" Dr. Sanda asked running up to Beck and Call once they arrived back.

"I'm fine," Beck assured Dr. Sanda, "I've been through much worse than that."

"I knew you could do it, Beck," Dr. White said smiling, "I had nothing but faith in you."

"Professor, I couldn't bring Ray back to the lab," Beck said sadly, "She refuses to come back here."

Dr. White pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Yeah, I was afraid of that. Well, we're not giving up. We'll rescue her, Beck. I promise."

Beck perked up a bit and smiled, "Thanks Professor."

"Now, what about you Call?" Dr. White said turning to Call, "Do you know what happened there?"

"It was a tiny glitch in my systems," Call said a little too quickly, "Nothing major."

"Still… perhaps we should check on you," Dr. Sanda said, "Let's head into my lab and-"

"No, Dr. Sanda, I am fine," Call said, "Right now, I merely wish to get some rest."

"Okay…" Dr. Sanda said, both him and Dr. White looking at Call suspiciously as she walked to her room. Beck couldn't get today out of his head, and what Call just did didn't help his mind any, as Call did something she shouldn't have been able to do.

She lied.

* * *

Call closed the door to her room and leaned against it. She went over the information again and again, playing the events in her mind to see what happened. But nothing made sense. What did she experience just now?

"Funny, I appear to be fully functional," Call said placing a hand to her chest, "No viruses detected. But then… what was that outburst from earlier?"


	2. Chapter 2

**For those wondering, I sort of view Call to be similar to Data from Star Trek the Next Generation.**

Chapter 2

 _Date: July 16 20xx_

 _Since yesterday, I have not experienced the anomaly that occurred in the factory, nor have I figured out source. I have decided to keep it a secret for the most part, though I fear that Beck and the other Mighty Numbers might be suspicious of my behavior._

 _I have chosen to keep my distance from everyone until I know the cause of the anomaly and can prevent it from occurring a second time. I am not immune to viruses like Beck, so I must take special precautions to insure everyone's safety._

 _Ending log_

 _Signature: Call_

* * *

"Dyna, could you help me power this generator?" Dr. White asked. Dynatron floated over to Dr. White's workspace.

"You got it Profezzzzzzor!" Dynatron said. She flew up to the generator that Dr. White was building, and started spinning around like a top sending her electricity into it.

Dr. White looked at his computer and smiled at the results.

"Perfect. Once it reaches 50 percent, it should begin to generate it's own electricity," Dr. White looked up at Dynatron, "Okay Dyna, I think that should do it."

"Weeee! I'm getting dizzzzzzzy, Profezzzzor!" she said happily, seemingly oblivious to her creators pleas as she began spinning even faster.

"Dyna… That's enough Dyna. Dyna…! Dyna!" Dr. White cried. The generator began sparking as Dynatron continued to spin around gleefully, "DYNA-" he was cut off as the generator exploded. Immediately Beck ran in, accompanied by Pyrogen, and Call.

"Professor! Dynatron! Are you two okay?!" Beck cried out. When the smoke cleared, both Dynatron and Dr. White looked fine, if not covered in soot. Dr. White coughed and then glared at Dynatron, who smiled sheepishly.

"Eh heh heh, zzzorry Profezzzzor," Dynatron said. Dr. White sighed shaking his head.

"Well, I was going to make a separate one for Cherry Dynamics anyway, so now I have a reason to," Dr. White said with a forced smile, "It's fine Dyna."

Dynatron perked up, hugged Dr. White, and then floated back to the others.

"You have to learn to control yourself Dyna," Pyrogen scolded, "We almost lost in the Colosseum last week because of that."

"Ugh! I can't help it Pyro!" Dynatron fussed, her mood completely shifting, "I like electrizzzity and zzzzpinning! What am I zzzzuppozzzed to do when I do _both_?!"

As Pyrogen and Dynatron walked away still arguing, Beck shook his head smiling. Call on the other hand stared at them in confusion, and then walked over to Dr. White who was cleaning up.

"Question," Call said catching Dr. White's attention.

"Oh, um, what's wrong Call," Dr. White asked.

"Why are you not upset at Mighty Number 3? Did she not cause this accident?" Call asked.

"Oh that was just Dynatron being Dynatron," Dr. White said with a smile, "I can't get mad at her every time she overloads an electronic device."

Call looked at Dr. White confused as he cleaned up his work desk. She looked down for a second, and then walked next to Dr. White.

"So, she has done this before?" Call asked.

"Yep, pretty much every time I ask her to use her electric powers. It's a good thing I didn't need her to absorb any electricity," he said with a laugh.

"Why do you not fix her then?" Call asked. Dr. White stopped and looked at Call with a raised eyebrow.

"Fix her? I'm not sure I follow," Dr. White said.

"She is malfunctioning, correct? That is why she is unable to control herself."

Dr. White nodded in understanding, "Ah, I see. You think she has an error in her programming."

"Am I incorrect?" Call asked.

"That's just the kind of person Dyna is," Dr. White said, "Sure, it's annoying at times, but if she wasn't so excitable she wouldn't be as fun either. She's one of my favorites besides Beck actually," he leaned in and whispered, "Don't tell any of the others I said that though," he winked, and then got back to work. As Call frowned, Beck walked over to her.

"Hey, do you want to go into town for a bit?" Beck asked. Call looked at Beck and turned her head to the side in confusion.

"Why?" Call asked, "Is there something you need to take care of in town?"

"N-no," Beck said, "I just figured you needed some fresh air. You haven't been out of your room all day."

Call looked aside considering her options. After a second, she shrugged.

"I suppose that would be acceptable," Call said. Beck smiled and turned to Dr. White.

"Professor, Call and I are going into town for a bit," Beck said.

"Okay Beck. If anything comes up, I'll give you a call," Dr. White said, "Oh, don't forget Bat and Brand's match later today."

"I won't Professor," Beck said. As always, he held out his hand, and Call grasped it tightly. As they walked out, Dr. White smiled looking at them, but then his expression became somber.

"Malfunctioning, huh?" Dr. White said with a sigh, "I wonder how Sanda would react if he heard you say that."

* * *

Beck took Call into the business area, which was actually a gigantic mall. His favorite place was a milkshake shop, but usually he went here with the other Mighty Numbers after a match. This was his first time going with someone else.

After ordering two strawberry milkshakes, Beck and Call sat down at the counter. Beck took a sip of his and had a blissful smile on his face.

"I love these! I wish I were powered by strawberry milkshakes!" Beck said cheerfully. Call just stared at hers intently, "You haven't had one before?"

"I have never had the need to eat," Call explained, "I am a robot, so I do not require sustenance," she turned to Beck, "You are a machine like me, Beck. Why do you eat?"

Beck laughed, "Because I like the taste, Call. Sweet things are my favorite," Beck looked at Call sheepishly, "Cryo makes fun of me all the time for it. Saying that Professor White probably meant to make me a girl."

"Why would she say that?" Call asked.

"Uh… don't worry about it," Beck said, realizing that Call wouldn't really get the novelty of that. Geez, sometimes she was really difficult to relate to, "So… wanna give it a try?"

Call looked at her milkshake, took the straw into her mouth, and took a long sip, "Item chilled at 10 degrees Fahrenheit, a combination of ice, fruit, and dairy blended to create a liquid of-" Beck started laughing again, "Have I said something odd, Beck?"

"I'm sorry Call, I didn't mean to laugh," Beck forced himself to calm down, "How does it taste? Do you like it?"

"Taste would require the ability to state levels of enjoyment, and that would require emotions I do not possess," Call explained. Beck's heart sank listening to her.

"Oh… right, sorry. I just…" Beck sighed looking away. Suddenly he felt real silly. Naturally she didn't have emotions, so she wouldn't be able to say whether she enjoyed something. She probably didn't even like him as a person.

"I have upset you," Call said, looking at her milkshake, "I apologize Beck."

"Y-you don't have to apologize Call," Beck said, "I'm the one who keeps saying odd things to you."

"Negative," Call said, oddly kicking her legs back and forth, "You are used to associating with robots that have emotions and humanity. It is not your fault that I lack an understanding of those concepts. That is a failing of my own programming."

"No!" Beck shouted, grasping Calls hands, "There's nothing wrong with you Call! You're a different robot than me, but that's okay! I like you just the way you are, however you are."

Call averted her eyes, and Beck caught himself. He always felt sort of odd when he was with Call, almost irrational. She probably thought he was being weird, and wouldn't want to do anything like this with him again. Hell, she didn't even want to do this now.

Beck returned to his milkshake, but stopped when he heard sipping next to him. He looked at Call and saw her continuing to sip her milkshake, eyes gently closed. She really was cute like this, despite not having emotions.

Beck smiled and returned to his milkshake. They sat in silence for a while, Beck not feeling odd around Call in the slightest. He didn't know how she felt about him, but he could tell that he was beginning to-

"Beck, are you and Call still together?" Dr. Sanda asked on Beck's intercom. Poor Beck was so startled that some of his milkshake shot out of his nose. Call closed her eyes again, her expression unreadable.

"Y-yeah Dr. Sanda," Beck said, "Is something wrong?"

"W-well, unfortunately Battalion and Brandish need maintenance, and it won't be done in time for their match," Dr. Sanda said, "This is an important match, and we can't afford to cancel it."

"You want Call and I to fight?" Beck asked, his heart racing a bit.

"Brand and Bat were the ones who suggested it," Dr. Sanda said, "They said win or lose, you were the best one."

Beck couldn't help but smile. He used to be the weakest link in the team, but these days his siblings were always lifting him up, giving him important matches and cheering him on when he was out on the field.

"Alright then," Beck said, "We'll do it, right Call?"

Call stopped sipping her milkshake and turned to Beck, "Affirmative. We will depart immediately."

"Great! I'll let William know! Thank you so much, you two!" with that Dr. Sanda hung up.

"So, shall we?" Beck asked Call, who quickly finished her milkshake before answering.

"Affirmative Beck. Let us proceed to the Colosseum," Call said. Beck smiled and held out his hand, and Call grasped it tightly. The two of them ran out of the shop to the Colosseum, unaware of the robot watching them. She had long purple hair, and had white cat ears and a long bushy cat's tail. Her curvy body was covered by strategically placed white fur, and she also had large wire framed glasses and red lipstick. She elegantly sipped her blueberry milkshake, her eyes settling on Beck.

"I can't wait to meet you personally, Mighty Number 9," the cat girl robot said, her voice almost like a cat's mew.

* * *

"What an exciting day here in the Battle Colosseum! The final match of the day is between the new comers Blitz Team and the city's favorites, the Mighty Numbers!"

The crowd cheered at the announcers words.

"Sounds like you all love the sound of that! In that case, I'm about to make it even better! Turns out that a last minute change had to be made, so instead of the duo of Battalion and Brandish, a special guest is making his appearance for today's match. Ladies and gentlemen, today the Blitz Team gets to fight MIGHTY. NUMBER. NINE!"

And the crowd cheered even louder. No question who the crowd favorite was these days.

As the announcer continued to get the crowd hyped up, Beck and Call ran to the main hallway, where Dr. White was waiting for them. Cryosphere and Aviator were there with him.

"You guys just made it," Dr. White said.

"Who's this Team Blitz, Professor?" Beck asked.

"They're a new team from France" Dr. White said handing Call her bow and equipping her mini Patch jet pack, "Their creator is anonymous at the moment, but all of the robots on that team are female."

"Here's the latest scoop on your opponents," Aviator said handing Beck a holographic clip board, "The two of them are a powerful team using the combination of fire and electricity. Their names are Phoenix and Unicorn, and they are _plowing_ through the rankings!"

Beck looked at their information and started getting nervous. These two robots were really powerful if their records were an indication, and Aviator was _never_ wrong about these things.

"Are you sure one of you shouldn't take them on? These two look really dangerous," Beck said nervously.

"Just be cool, Beck," Cryosphere said, "You'll be fine as long as you fight smart."

"Remember, you don't have to win," Dr. White said, "Just put them to the test, and work with Call like always."

Beck took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

"Do not worry, Beck," Call said catching his attention, "You have been through harder fights than this. Remember, our opponents are not trying to destroy us. Fight as you normally would, and I will do my best to offer support."

She walked over to Beck, this time holding out _her_ hand and looking at Beck intently. She didn't have emotions, but there was something there. Beck could see it. She was genuinely trying to comfort him. Could she possibly…

Beck smiled and took her hand, "Right. Nothing to fear. After all, I have the best partner in the world. Let's go!"

Call nodded, and the two of them ran down the hall to the stadium.

"I think we kept all of you waiting long enough!" the announcer said, "Let's get this started! In the red corner, representing the Mighty Numbers, let's hear it for Beck and Call!"

Beck and Call walked into the stadium, Beck waving to the crowd as Call just looked around. Naturally there were banners being held up, some claiming that Beck was "The Mightiest Number" but also there were banners for his partner as well, some even saying things like "Call _me_ , please".

"And in the blue corner, representing the Blitz Team, give it up for Phoenix and Unicorn!"

Beck didn't know what he was expecting from two robots named "Phoenix" and "Unicorn", but what he saw certainly wasn't it. Both robots were in fact built with female frames, and they were absolutely stunning.

On the left was a robot woman standing at close to eight feet tall. She had long red hair, large red wings on her back, and a thick build that was muscular yet still attractive. She wore a red and gold poncho top that did very little to hide how well endowed she was, a matching red and gold skirt, armored clawed gloves and armored boots made to look like talons. Her eyes were piercing red, and her expression was very intimidating, yet oddly calm.

On her right was her partner, a woman a little shorter, standing closer to Dr. White's height. She had long blond hair that was curly and full, and more of a voluptuous build. She wore platinum knight's armor and a matching helmet, with silver chain mail underneath and high heeled boots. Coming out of her forehead was a long horn, and out of the back of her armor was a blond horse's tail. Her eyes were yellow, she wore red lipstick, and had a long rapier at her side. Her walk was a pure saunter, with one hand on her hips and an arrogant yet sensual smile.

"Look at what we have here, Phoenix," the knight robot said, her voice haughty and full of arrogance, "When I heard we'd be fighting Mighty Number 9, I expected someone a little bigger. This runt is the one who stopped and purified Trinity?"

"Don't underestimate your opponent, Unicorn," the red robot, Phoenix said, her voice smooth and deep, "His size has nothing to do with his capabilities in battle."

"Shoooooooot…" Beck said, "Those robots look really powerful."

"Their mechanical make-up is similar to ours," Call said, "They are powered by a central core, and are composed of xels despite their appearance. Do not be intimidated."

"Right," Beck said. Both teams stepped toward each other, Phoenix eying Beck and Call closely.

"Odd, these two don't seem to be primarily combat robots," Phoenix said, "Yet, there is something about them… Who is your creator?"

"I was made by Professor William White," Beck said, "The same as my older siblings."

"I was created by Doctor Soichiro Sanda," Call said. At that name, both Phoenix and Unicorn looked at Call in shock.

"Sanda…?" Phoenix asked. Unicorn gave a high and arrogant laugh.

"This little waif is Dr. Sanda's greatest treasure? I truly expected more," Unicorn said.

"Dr. Sanda's… greatest treasure…?" Call asked looking down.

"This is an exhibition match!" the announcer said, "The rules are simple! Both teams share a single life bar, which is determined by the receptors surrounding the field! When one team's life bar goes all the way down, the match is over! Combatants are allowed to use all of their weapons at their disposal, and employ any strategy that they wish, but no destroying their opponents or causing any lasting damage! Robots, are you ready?!"

Beck and Call activated their weapons and got in their fighting stances, standing back to back and glaring at their opponents. Phoenix held out her claws and Unicorn pulled out her rapier, and both of them got in stances of their own, also standing back to back.

"Battle set up! GO!"

Immediately Beck and Call pointed their weapons forward and started firing at Phoenix and Unicorn. Unicorn rolled to the right and Phoenix jumped to the left out of the way. Phoenix gave a loud cry almost like a bird's screech and exploded in fire, almost like Pyrogen. She then flew over to Beck and tackled him away from Call.

Before Call could react, Unicorn rushed toward Call and began slashing wildly with her rapier, which was sparking with electricity. Call held up her barrier to defend herself and tried to fly away, but unicorn slashed at the air sending tiny sparks after her to disrupt her shield. A bolt of lightning shot down from the sky onto Unicorn's horn, and she rushed after Call again, this time the electricity on her blade was larger.

In the stands, Cryosphere was covering her eyes, Aviator was tapping his foot nervously, and Dr. White bit his thumb.

"Oooh, I'm getting chills!" Cryosphere said trembling.

"Beck Man is getting overwhelmed out there!" Aviator cried, "Maybe sending him and Call to fight them wasn't a good idea!"

"Let's not count them out just yet," Dr. White said, "Just give them a second to see their weakness."

Back in the fight, Beck was starting to get a little overwhelmed. Phoenix was relentless, slashing wildly with claws engulfed in flames. Beck jumped away shooting at her, and actually managed to knock her back a bit. Instead of continuing to fight Phoenix, Beck turned to Call and Unicorn and fired at her.

Unicorn was stunned for a spit second, and Call took that as her chance to fire at Unicorn with her bow. The shot destabilized her revealing yellow xels, and Beck wasted no time acXelerating into her knocking her back and using her yellow xels to strengthen his body.

Phoenix grabbed Beck by the neck and threw him into a wall far away from Call, getting a unified gasp from everyone present in the audience.

"BECK!" Cryosphere, Aviator, and Dr. White all screamed.

Call turned to see Beck force himself to his feet, but was immediately assaulted again by Phoenix. Call could see that the yellow xels were beginning to wear off.

"Should you really be worried about him?" Unicorn said, kicking Call onto the ground, "I'm pretty sure your life is still in jeopardy."

"Call!" Beck shouted, "Get out of here Call!"

"You and Mighty Number 9 both share a life bar here," Unicorn said picking Call up by the neck and holding her sword to her neck, "So as long as we keep the two of you apart, we can easily win this fight."

"That… is your strategy…" Call said, "Keep Beck… and I separated…"

Unicorn's chuckle sounded almost like a horse whinny, "That's right girly. You don't seem to have an an emotion circuit of any sort, which is a shame. You're stuck then. Unlike us, you're just a machine frozen in time."

Something within Call snapped when Unicorn said that, and she looked at Unicorn coldly, "Just… a machine…?"

Unicorn threw Call back down to the ground, dropping her and Beck's health down by a good chunk. Another bolt of lightning shot onto her horn, and she sauntered over to Call, who was slowly rising to her knees.

"No… No! NO!" Beck screamed, "I have to protect her!"

Beck fired rapidly at Phoenix, stopping once she destabilized revealing red xels. Just what Beck was hoping for.

He dashed into her absorbing her xels, and then dashed over to Unicorn firing at her with his much stronger gun arm. She tried to defend herself, but Beck managed to destabilize her, stunning her. As Beck dashed into her to take some of her xels, Call ran to Beck's side facing Phoenix.

Phoenix screeched in anger and charged at them, but this time Call was ready.

"Barrier," Call said, creating a barrier to defend against Phoenix's assault, "Beck, I will keep her at bay as long as I can. Focus on Unicorn."

"Got it! Thanks Call!" Beck said pointing his gun forward. Still within the barrier, he fired at Unicorn, once again destabilizing her. This time, he turned to Phoenix next and fired at her, taking advantage of Unicorn being stunned to destabilize Phoenix. After absorbing her xels, he jumped back into the barrier and turned back to Unicorn.

Unicorn slashed at the air sending a wave of electricity at Beck and Call, but Beck picked up Call and jumped away from the attack. When Beck landed, he noticed something odd about Call. She couldn't have been… _trembling_.

"Call? Are you okay?" Beck asked.

"Fine," Call said curtly, "I am fine. Continue with the attack."

Phoenix shot a fireball out of her hands at them, but Call put up her Barrier just in time to protect them. Beck then stepped forward and fired at Phoenix. Unicorn charged at them, but this time it was Call who pulled out her bow and fired point blank at her, knocking her to the ground.

Beck dashed into Unicorn one last time, and the bell rang.

"Match set! The winners are Beck and Call!" the announcer shouted. The crowd cheered, and Dr. White, Cryosphere, and Aviator all slumped back into their chairs in relief.

"Talk about a stressful match," Dr. White said.

"I thought Beck was about to get "iced" just now," Cryosphere said.

"I _totally_ knew he had that. You two need to listen to me more," Aviator said.

Phoenix helped Unicorn up, "Sorry Phoenix. I guess I sort of screwed up that one," Unicorn said.

"Not at all. Mighty Number 9 is a challenging opponent," Phoenix said. Speaking of, Phoenix then walked over to Beck and held out her hand, "Very good, Mighty Number 9."

"Thanks, you too," Beck said shaking her hand, "By the way, you can call me Beck."

"Well met, Beck," Phoenix said. Call looked at Unicorn, who made a kissing gesture to her smiling arrogantly. Call tightened her fists looking at her.

"Come along, Phoenix, our creator waits for us," Unicorn said turning to the door.

"Yes, understood," Phoenix said. She released Beck's hand and walked after her sister.

Beck turned to Call, who had an odd expression on her face. She was frowning, and her fists were clenched. It was somewhat adorable to look at, but it was also completely out of her character. She looked _upset_ about something.

"Call?" Beck asked, snapping her out of whatever she was in, "Are you okay?"

"Beck… I…" Call said, looking down in confusion. While everyone in the crowd was cheering, Beck didn't quite feel like cheering. There was definitely something happening to Call, and Beck wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

* * *

Back at SANDA Tech, Dr. Sanda had just finished the maintenance on Battalion and Brandish, and the three of them along with the rest of the Might Numbers were watching the fight on TV. Naturally, once Beck and Call were declared the winners, everyone there was cheering loudly. Well, Countershade wasn't cheering. He _was_ smiling though from his corner.

"They did it!" Pyrogen and Dynatron shouted at the same time hugging. They then immediately caught themselves and let go of each other frowning.

"I knew letting Ensign Beck and Ensign Call fight was a good idea," Battalion said nodding with pride.

"What do you mean?" Brandish asked looking at Battalion with a raised eyebrow, " _I_ was the one trying to convince _you_."

"Details, soldier. Details," Battalion said. Brandish sighed slapping his forehead.

Countershade shook his head and then looked up slightly, "Someone needs to get the door."

"What do you-" Dr. Sanda was cut off at the sound of the doorbell ringing. Sometimes he wondered how Countershade did it.

"I'll get it," Seismic said slowly making his way to the door.

"Izzz zzzomething wrong, Dr. Zzzzanda?" Dynatron asked, as he had a troubled look on his face.

"Those designs," Dr. Sanda said, "There's something about them that seems familiar."

"I would hope so, since you took part in their designs," a female voice with a French accent said behind him. Everyone turned around and saw a sight that made them all stop. Dynatron was the only one not completely taken aback by the woman who now stood in the lab. She was stunning with long black hair, wearing purple eye shadow, red lipstick, and a short one piece black mini skirt, red and black high heels, and a white lab coat. Her long hair covered her left eye, which was probably as green as her visible right eye, and combined with her build she had a sort of Jessica Rabbit feel to her.

"Bonjour, mon vieil ami," The woman said smiling at Dr. Sanda, "It's been a long time, Soichiro."

"Videl…" Dr. Sanda said, slowly rising to his feet and looking at the woman before them. _Now_ he knew why he recognized those robots. Those were designs that at one point _he_ worked on, with this very woman, Dr. Videl Valentine, his former partner…

And lover…


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 _Date: July 16, 20xx_

 _Entry: We have returned to SANDA Tech from the Colosseum, where a mysterious woman is talking with my creator, Dr. Sanda. There is something about her that seems to upset Dr. Sanda, as I have never seen him like this before._

 _Currently, she is with Dr. Sanda, Dr. White, Beck, and myself. I originally planned to go back into my room and look over information from the last battle, as I experienced another brief anomaly, but the woman insisted that she meet the two of us._

 _Ending log_

 _Signature: Call_

* * *

The mysterious french woman walked around Beck looking him over smirking.

"Très bon, très bon," the woman said as she circled around Beck, "This is a very good design, Professor White."

"Uh… thanks um…" Dr. White said nervously.

"Oh, pardon," the woman said, "I assumed Soichiro had mentioned me."

"He didn't I'm afraid," Dr. White said, now slowly looking at Dr. Sanda almost indignant. Dr. Sanda sighed wiping his forehead.

"William, Beck, Call, this is Dr. Videl Valentine… my… ex-girlfriend," Dr. Sanda said.

Both Beck and Dr. White did a double take, looking at both Dr. Valentine and Dr. Sanda. This woman was a _bombshell_ , and she was Dr. Sanda's _ex_?!

Call on the other hand just looked at the woman intently. Something seemed familiar about her.

"Why so surprised?" Dr. Valentine asked sauntering over to Sanda and caressed his cheek, "Soichiro is quite the passionate man when he wants to be."

"Professor…? Are we in another dimension?" Beck asked Dr. White in a whisper.

"We might be, Beck," Dr. White said, "We might be…"

Dr. Sanda sighed, "What are you doing here, Videl?"

"I figured you'd want to know I was in town," Dr. Valentine cooed, "But seeing my robots in action probably told you that."

"Wait, do you mean Team Blitz?" Beck asked, "Did you create those robots?"

"That I did," Dr. Valentine said now smiling at Beck, "Would you like to meet the rest?"

"Yes!" Beck said excitedly. Dr. Valentine giggled.

"Well then, let's go sweetie," Dr. Valentine said. Beck turned to Call.

"Wanna come Call?" Beck asked.

"Qui, I'm sure they'd all love to see you as well," Dr. Valentine said.

"Negative," Call said walking to the door, "I have work to take care of. I will return to my room for now."

"Call…" Beck said, watching helplessly as Call left the room. Dr. Valentine folded her arms under her bosom and pursed her lips.

"I see she's still the same as last time," Dr. Valentine said, "Venir, Beck."

"Oh, r-right," Beck said following Dr. Valentine out of the room. Dr. White turned over to Dr. Sanda and looked at him incredulous.

" _How_?!" Dr. White asked.

"I was a different man back then, William," Dr. Sanda said.

"But she's… and you're… _how_?!"

"She and I were colleagues," Dr. Sanda said walking forward, "We planned to change the world of robotics. You could say that we had a partnership like ours now. One thing lead to another and well…"

"So, what happened? Did she find someone else or…?"

"Oh no, I actually was the one who ended it," Dr. Sanda said. Dr. White had the urge to call bullshit, but stopped himself, "She and I were just heading in different directions, and after the accident…"

The tortured look on Dr. Sanda's face was one Dr. White had never seen before in his life. He was usually so jolly, yet it seemed that he actually had quite a few skeletons in his closet.

* * *

"Wow…!" Beck said looking at the robots, "You made these robots?"

"Qui qui," Dr. Valentine said, presenting the four robots standing outside of the lab. All four of them were female, and they were very diverse, almost looking human.

Standing right by the door was a cute little robot that looked younger than the others at about eight years old. She had light blond hair and wore a white and pink dress, white Mary-Jane shoes, and two adorable hair clips on either side of her head. At the top of her head were two long rabbit ears that drooped down the side of her head, and she even had a cute rabbit's tail.

A little next to her was an older looking robot holding a holographic clip board. She had shorter blue hair that stopped at her shoulders, and wore a fancy blue dress that opened at the sides to show her legs, blue high heeled boots, and blue gloves. On her back were two scaly wings, but they didn't look like they were good for flying oddly.

On the other side standing away from everyone else was a really tall an intimidating woman with straight purple hair that fell past her waist, wearing a black dress/jacket, purple leggings, and black high heeled boots. On her back were large black dragon wings and a long dragon's tail. Her expression was somewhat blank, yet still more emotional than Call's usual expression, as she kept looking at Beck intently.

Finally hiding behind the larger robot was another timid looking girl. She was really pretty, with long black and white hair, wearing a white short kimono with black tiger stripes, black leggings, and white boots with black stripes. She had white striped cat ears on the top of her head, and a long tail. The poor thing was trembling looking at Beck.

"They look so human," Beck said looking around at them. Dr. Valentine laughed.

"That makes me happy to hear," Dr. Valentine said, "Allow me to introduce you to them. This is Bunny," she pointed to the little girl, "Hydra," the blue haired robot, "Dragon," the tall robot with the dragon wings, "and Tiger," the robot hiding behind Dragon.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Beck said, "I'm-"

"Mighty Number Nine, code named Beck," Hydra said looking over her clip board, which apparently had Beck's information, "I have you on file, along with all of your siblings."

"I-I see," Beck said laughing awkwardly.

"Wow! You're so cool looking!" Bunny said running around Beck excitedly, "Mommy! Mommy! Is he a super hero? Is he? Is he?"

Dr. Valentine laughed, "Not quite, Bunny, but he is the one who stopped Trinity. Speaking of, what is she doing these days?"

"She spends a lot of time helping Cherry Dynamics," Beck said, "We see her every so often, but she actually works as Mr. Graham's secretary now."

"Interesting," Dr. Valentine said nodding. She turned to Tiger and shook her head, "Now Tiger sweetie, you know it's rude to hide from our guest."

"B-b-b-but… he was able t-t-to defeat Phoenix and Unicorn…" Tiger stuttered, "T-they're the s-s-s-strongest ones besides D-D-D-Dragon…"

"I won't hurt you," Beck said walking forward and holding out his hands, "I'd like to be friends."

"It's alright Tiger," Dragon said somewhat mechanically, "I don't detect any threat from Mighty no. 9. You'll be safe."

Tiger reluctantly stepped out and held out a shaky hand, but quickly retracted it and ran behind Dr. Valentine.

"Don't feel bad, Beck," Dr. Valentine said, "Tiger is _extremely_ shy."

"That's okay," Beck said, "I used to be just as shy. Don't feel bad, Tiger."

"S-s-senpai…" Tiger said teary eyed.

"Now," Dr. Valentine said looking around, "Where in the world is your little sister?"

"Here I am Mother," a high voice said, almost sounding like a cat's mew. Beck's attention turned to the source, and he was floored. She looked to be about seventeen. She had long purple hair that was so long and full it almost looked like a lion's mane. She had white fur lining parts of her body strategically covering parts of her almost completely exposed and curvy body, high heeled boots that looked to be part of her body, and white gloves with blood red claws. She had white cat's ears and a bushy cat's tail, and she wore red lipstick and wire framed glasses. She walked toward the group, hands on her hips and swishing her tail back and forth.

"Lynx, where were you?" Hydra asked, "You were supposed to be back an hour ago."

" _Sorry_ , but I wanted to play a little more," the robot cat girl, Lynx apparently, said.

"Well, either way, this is Beck," Dr. Valentine said pushing Beck forward, "He's one of the robots that Phoenix and Unicorn fought."

"Oooh, _this_ is Mighty no. 9?" Lynx asked now walking over to Beck, "He's cute, Mother. Can I keep him?"

Hydra rolled up a newspaper and hit her in the head with it, "Bad kitty. Down."

Lynx hissed at Hydra. Beck couldn't take his eyes off of her. Something about Lynx was just so alluring, yet terrifying.

"Lynx here is my most recent robot," Dr. Valentine, "You could say she's my own Mighty no. 9."

"Stop Mother," Lynx said, "I'm nowhere near as impressive as the robot that took out Trinity."

"It's really not that big of a deal," Beck said sheepishly. Lynx took Beck's hand and leaned in close to him, practically kissing him.

"But it is a big deal," Lynx said, "You saved the world, Beck. I can only imagine what would happen to the humans in the world if you hadn't stopped us."

"Stopped… you?" Beck asked.

"Lynx was one of the robots that was infected," Dragon said, "We were excluded somehow, but Lynx took the brunt of the infection."

"W-what?" Beck asked, "Lynx, I'm sorry."

"No Beck, it's fine," Lynx said taking Beck's hand and putting it to her cheek, "You saved my life. I'm eternally grateful to you. Thank you, Mighty no. 9."

As Beck looked at Lynx, something came over him. He didn't know why, but all of a sudden, something about Lynx felt off. He knew one thing though, Lynx was different than her sisters. He couldn't put his finger on it, but whatever it was, it was terrifying.

* * *

It was nighttime, and Call was still hard at work looking over her data. No matter what she did, or how many times she examined it, she just couldn't find any anomalies. No traces of a virus or anything that seemed out of place within her electronic systems.

"Curious," she said to herself, "I do not detect any oddities within my programming, and the records of the past mission do not show-" a knock on the door caught her attention, "Yes?"

"Call? It's me? Can I come in?"

It was her creator, Dr. Sanda. She looked at her clock and saw that it was a lot later than she thought.

"Certainly Dr. Sanda. Please come in," Call said. The door opened, and Sanda stepped into the room with a soft smile.

"I'm surprised to see you're still up," Dr. Sanda said, "What's that you're working on?"

"I was merely looking over the data recorded from yesterday's mission. I experienced an odd glitch, and I am searching for the source."

"Does that have anything to do with that outburst?" Dr. Sanda asked, "The one that resulted in you destroying the computer?"

Call froze and turned to Dr. Sanda slightly, "I am fully functional, Doctor. You do not have to worry."

Dr. Sanda closed his eyes painfully and sighed. He then sat down on Call's bed and patted right next to him. Call tilted her head in confusion, but she still got up and sat down on the bed, where Dr. Sanda promptly held her.

"Dr. Sanda, is everything alright?" Call asked.

"If there's anything you want to tell me, Call, you can," Dr. Sanda said, "I'm here for you."

"As I said, you do not have to worry about me, Dr. Sanda," Call said, "I am perfectly functional."

"But I'm _going_ to worry about you," Dr. Sanda said holding Call even tighter, "You're my creation, and I love you."

Call played those words in her head over and over again, trying to see if they triggered any response. After a second, they came up empty. She didn't have emotions, so she couldn't feel anything.

 _How cold are you? You can't even bring yourself to say "I love you" back to him?_

"Dr. Sanda, I have to get back to work," Call said. Dr. Sanda sighed and reluctantly released her.

"Sorry, I guess I'm being weird," Dr. Sanda said with a forced smile, "Seeing Videl like that again brought up bad memories."

"Bad memories?" Call asked rising from the bed and walking back to her computer, "What sort of bad memories, Dr. Sanda?"

"Dr. Valentine has interesting philosophies when it comes to robots," Dr. Sanda said, "Those philosophies resulted in an accident, one that… took someone that I cared deeply about from me."

"I apologize, Dr. Sanda," Call said, "Is there anything I can do to be of assistance in your recovery?"

Dr. Sanda looked like he wanted to say something, but he shook it off, "That's fine. You seem to be busy. Don't stay up too late, or else you won't have enough energy to work tomorrow."

"I will enter recharge mode within the half hour," Call said, "Have a good night, Dr. Sanda."

"Good night… Call," Dr. Sanda said. He slowly rose from his seat and walked out of the room. Now alone again, Call was able to focus on her work, which was still going nowhere. It seemed as though there just wasn't a logical explanation.

She sat back in her chair and frowned. What was the source of that anomaly? What even happened to her? Her attention went to her bookshelf, where she saw her list of Sherlock Holmes books. She collected them, and read them whenever she had spare time. She rose up and walked to her shelf, picking up one of the books and remembering the quote that always stuck out to her.

"If you eliminate the impossible, then whatever is left, no matter how improbable, must be the truth," Call said to herself, "Does that mean…? But… no, that is impossible," she said, now looking at herself in the mirror, "I do not have… _that…_ do I?"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 _Date: July 17, 20xx_

 _Entry: I have begun to isolate the issue, but the explanation of what it could be does not make any sense to me. However, I have investigated every possibility of what it could be, and on all accounts I have been proven wrong._

 _There is one avenue that I must look into first before I finalize my theory. Dr. Sanda will not like it, but I must go to Cherry Dynamics. I must speak to Trinity._

 _Ending log_

 _Signature: Call_

* * *

Call stepped out of her room early in the day, hopefully before anyone woke up or activated. She didn't want to have to explain to anyone where she was going, especially since lying wasn't in her programming.

 _But you did lie, remember?_

When she reached the living room area, she noticed someone lying on the couch. She didn't recognize the woman lying there, but scans indicated that this person was a robot. They were pretty much naked, except for a few pieces of white fur covering her body, and she looked like a neko.

 _Who's that?_

"Mmm…" the cat girl sat up rubbing her eyes in a cat like fashion, "Nya, that was a good nap," she looked at Call in surprise, and then gave her an almost sensual smile, "Hello cutie pie. You're Dr. Sanda's robot, Call right?"

"Affirmative," Call said stepping back for some reason, "Who are you?"

"I'm Lynx," the cat robot said straightening her glasses, "Dr. Valentine's latest robot and the leader of Team Blitz. We're staying here for a bit while our creator gets reacquainted with your creator."

"You are the leader?" Call asked, "How? Dr. White made Pyrogen the leader of the Mighty Numbers because he was the oldest."

"That's how the Mighty Numbers do it, but not Team Blitz," Lynx said lying on her back sensually, "In Team Blitz, power rules everything. Whoever is the strongest is the leader," she looked at Call, "Where are you going so early?"

"I have something to take care of out of town," Call said, "I will be back in around noon," Call made her way to the door, but Lynx did a backwards flip off the couch and sauntered over to the door, elegantly using her arm to block Call's path, "Please get out of my way."

"Or what?" Lynx taunted, "Are you going to fuss at me? Scream? Shove me? Oh wait, you can't do any of those things, can you? Those would require the ability to feel frustration, _anger_ , and you're not built in that way, are you?"

"Please get out of my way," Call repeated, "I wish to be out of here before the others wake up and start their day."

"Mm, maybe I don't wanna," Lynx said, " _Maybe_ , I want to stay in your way. _Maybe_ I want to stall until Dr. Sanda wakes up. What would you do then, Call?"

"Please get out of my way," Call repeated, "If you do not, then I will remove you."

Lynx laughed, "Oh, I'm _so_ scared, Call! But seriously, you're not going to "remove me". You can't, because unlike you, _I'm_ built for combat. All you have is a measly energy shield and a bow."

Call started to experience something. An odd sensation within her chest. Like before, it was becoming hard to think, her teeth clenched, and her entire body was beginning to feel hot.

"Are you getting upset, Call?" Lynx asked, "Are you angry, frustrated?"

"I… do not have emotions…" Call said, feeling a little strained for some reason, "I cannot-"

" _Right_! You can't feel anything, can you?" Lynx said, "You're just a cold, empty, soulless machine, right?"

"No," Call said, more forcefully than she planned, "I am not a soulless, empty machine."

"But you don't have emotions, right? Without emotions, you don't have a personality, and without that, you don't have a soul. You can't even feel love, can you?"

"I…" she remembered when Dr. Sanda said he loved her last night. She didn't feel anything in response to it. She couldn't say that she loved him back. But she _did_ have thoughts. She _did_ have her own opinions. She _did_ have the ability to choose her own path, just like Beck, Trinity, and the other Mighty Numbers. That was enough, right?

 _She's wrong! You have a soul! You're just like Beck!_

 _But… I can't feel anything…_

 _Beck says you're alive, so you're alive! That's all the proof you need!_

"The way I see it, you only have two choices," Lynx said leaning in really close to Call, "Either you get angry and shove me out of the way, or you turn around and walk right back into your room like a good little tool. Mighty no. 9 isn't here to help you this time."

"Someone call my name?" Beck asked walking into the living room. Immediately Lynx scowled for a second and then turned to Beck wrapping her arms around Call.

" _Hi_ Beck!" Lynx said, "Call and I were just getting better acquainted with each other, isn't that right, Call?"

"Affirmative," Call said, experiencing an odd discomfort, "She and I were just getting to know each other better."

"I see," Beck said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I need to go see my sisters for training," Lynx said patting Call on the shoulders, "I'll see you again soon, Call," she walked over to Beck swishing her tail back and forth, and then kissed him on the cheek, "Take care, Mighty no. 9."

As she walked away, the sensation Call experienced faded away. She took a deep breath, and actually leaned against the wall. Beck looked at Call with a frown and ran over to her.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" Beck asked, "Call, are you trembling?"

"Beck…" Call said looking into Beck's eyes. The sensation started to fade away even more, and it was replaced with another sensation. Unable to process it, she lightly pushed Beck out of the way and began making her way to the door.

"Call, wait!" Beck called out, stopping Call, "What's wrong? Lately you seem a little, I don't know how to describe it, but it worries me. That outburst at the factory, the way you were trembling during the battle against Phoenix and Unicorn, and now this."

Call slowly turned to Beck, "You remembered all of that?"

"Of course I did," Beck said, "You're my partner, Call. No matter what, you're safety matters more to me than anything."

Call took that in, but found that she couldn't disregard it. Instead, the information seemed to increase in importance. From there, she was able to come to a conclusion about Beck.

 _He cares about me…_

Call quickly turned her back to Beck, "I am going to Cherry Dynamics. I tell you this in the hopes that you will keep my destination a secret."

"CherryDyn…? Call, why are you-"

"Do not ask me that," Call requested, shocking Beck, "Just know that something is happening to me, and I must speak to Trinity in order to understand it."

Beck looked at Call intently, and then nodded with a smile, "Got it. I won't tell anyone. Not even Professor White or Dr. Sanda."

Call closed her eyes, and a familiar beating sensation in her core started up again, "Thank you… Beck…" with that she ran out of the living room and outside. Once alone, she started to experience the anomaly again, but this time there wasn't a focus. She could tell something was going to happen, but she couldn't stop it, no matter what she did.

Instead, she held her head and moaned in pain. A second later, Call screamed, falling to her knees. She couldn't stop screaming, and was thankful that she was so far away from the building and that Beck probably wouldn't have questioned her.

After a second, she noticed moisture falling from her eyes. She touched her cheek and examined the water, and was wide eyed. Were these… _tears_?

"I am… crying…?" Call asked. Immediately she rose to her feet and ran to Cherry Dynamics. She needed to talk to Trinity _now_.

* * *

The Cherry Dynamics building was _huge_! As well as it should have been, as it was the biggest robotics business in the world next to SANDA Tech. It was where Dr. White had originally worked, back when his name was Bill Blackwell.

Call walked to the front desk, where she saw a basic secretary robot sitting.

"How may I help you, Miss?" the secretary robot asked, her smile almost too pleasant.

"I request to speak to Gregory Graham's personal secretary, Trinity," Call said. The secretary robot tilted her head in confusion.

"You need to speak to Trinity? That's an odd request. Are you sure there isn't anything that I can't-"

"Negative," Call said suddenly, "The _only_ one who is able to assist me is Trinity. Please contact her, and tell her to meet with me. It is urgent."

The secretary robot shrugged and picked up her phone, "May I inquire what the urgent business is?"

"No, you may not," Call said. The secretary looked taken aback by how quickly she was shot down, but she shrugged and continued dialing the number.

"Mr. Graham, a robot lady is here asking to speak to Trinity. She has blond hair and is wearing a pink and red dress. Yes sir. Thank you," the secretary robot hung up, "Trinity will be sent down shortly."

"Thank you," Call said bowing. She then walked over to the waiting area and had a seat. She didn't have to wait too long, as the elevator door opened and a familiar gothic lolita looking robot stepped out and smiled.

"Call!" she cried happily running to Call as she stood up. She ran into her arms and embrace Call tightly, "It's been so long! How are you!"

"I… do not know how to answer that," Call said, "That is why I am here today. Is there a place where we can have some privacy?"

Trinity looked at Call confused, but then nodded, "The courtyard doesn't have a lot of people there right now. Is that okay?"

"That is acceptable," Call said. As she followed Trinity to the courtyard, she suddenly felt a need to fill the silence, "How are you enjoying working with Cherry Dynamics?"

"It's fun actually," Trinity said, "Mr. Graham is thankfully behaving himself, so that's good," she turned to Call, "I'm not used to trying to make small talk."

"Am I doing something wrong?" Call asked.

"No, no, it's just… different," Trinity said smiling, "Is everything okay?"

Geez, Call was beginning to wish people would stop asking her that. Not because she was fine, but because it was beginning really hard to answer that question.

"That is what I came to you for," Call said, stopping when they made it outside, "I need you to examine my xels."

"Examine your xels? Couldn't you ask Professor White or Dr. Sanda to do that?" Trinity asked.

"Negative. I do not wish for them to know," Call said, "Also, I need you to see if there are any fragments of your xels within my xel make up. Understand that I am not accusing you, but I need to exhaust all options before coming to a full conclusion."

"That's fine," Trinity said pursing her lips, "Just… can you tell me what's wrong? I need to know what I'm looking for."

Call looked down seriously, "I am… experiencing odd anomalies. Sensations that I do not recognize, and moments of irrationality. I must know whether or not I have a virus that is difficult to trace, and you are the only one I know who would be able to check me for that."

Trinity nodded, "I see. Alright, I'll check your xels. This is going to be a little painful, Call, but this is the only way I can absorb and scan them, okay."

"Understood," Call said. For some reason, she started trembling.

Trinity held out her hand, which started glowing purple. She then thrust her hand into Call's chest, actually going _through_ her body, and then pulling her hand out quickly, her hand now glowing with pink xels. Call fell to her knees holding her chest as her body began to repair itself.

"Odd…" Trinity said looking at Call's xels.

"Do you… see the virus…?" Call asked.

"That's the thing, there _isn't_ a virus," Trinity said. Call's eyes went wide and she shot up.

"That is not possible," Call said, "There was no error in my programming, nor did I see a malfunction in my core. The issue _must_ be within my xels."

"Well, it _isn't_ ," Trinity said, her hand losing the glow, "I don't know what's wrong, but this isn't a problem with your xels."

But… that didn't make _any_ sense. If the issue wasn't in her CPU, her core wasn't faulty, and her xels hadn't been contaminated, what was left? Where could the problem be?

"Oh my God," Trinity said looking Call over, "Honey, are you… scared?"

"Scared?" Call asked, "That is an emotion I do not possess, Trinity."

"But you're trembling," Trinity said, "And the way you looked just now. Call, are you _sure_ you don't have emotions?"

"I was not designed with an emotional circuit," Call explained, "I have seen my blueprints, and examined my CPU."

"This is odd…" Trinity said, "Okay, I'll use the resources in CherryDyn to investigate this. In the meantime, talk to _someone_ over at SANDA Tech. I don't care if it's Dr. Sanda, Professor White, hell, it could be one of my siblings for all I care, just tell someone."

"I will," Call said, "But I must request that this conversation remain between you and I."

"I won't tell anyone," Trinity said, "I promise," Trinity hugged Call tightly, "We'll figure this out, Call."

"Thank you Trinity," Call said. Trinity walked back into the Cherry Dynamic's building, and Call sat down on a bench taking all of what happened in. Trinity told her to talk to someone, but most of the people who _could_ have helped her with this were people who she didn't want knowing about this.

But there was one person she knew she could trust with _anything_.

* * *

As the day went on, Beck tried to put his focus on other things, but he was just so worried about Call. He hadn't ever seen a look like that before on her. Over the last few days he's begun seeing different looks on her, and she was acting oddly.

He wanted to press her, but he didn't know how she felt about him. What did he mean by that? She didn't feel anything. Sometimes he even wondered why she stayed so close to him all the time.

The other Mighty Numbers and Team Blitz seemed to get along pretty well. Mostly it was the guys though. Cryosphere and Dynatron seemed a little out of the loop, which told Beck that it was the fact that they were all women.

The one who seemed the most distant though was Lynx. Even though she was the leader, she spent most of her time with Dr. Valentine than with her sisters. Something told Beck that there was more to her meeting with Call than she let on. Still, every so often she would flirt with Beck. Cryosphere and Dynatron had gotten into the habit of standing guard of Beck.

Hence why the three of them were sitting in SANDA Tech's cafeteria together.

"Geez, boys are pathetic," Cryosphere said.

"Tell me about it," Dynatron said, "It'zzz like they've never zzzeen a woman before."

Beck just sighed, catching Cryophere and Dynatron's attention.

"What'zzz wrong, little brother?" Dynatron asked.

"Yeah, you're looking a little blue in the face," Cryosphere said.

"Cryo, Dyna, how do I talk to girls?" Beck asked. His two older sisters looked taken aback and then looked at each other.

"Does someone have a crush?" Cryosphere asked, "It's not Lynx, is it?"

"Pleazzze don't let it be Lynx," Dynatron begged.

"No no! It's not Lynx, it's-" Beck caught himself, "It's not even a crush. It's just… I want to be able to understand Call better."

"Beck, you have to underzzztand, she's not like uzzz," Dynatron said comfortingly.

"She doesn't mean to give you the cold shoulder, she's just built to be little chilly," Cryosphere said.

"So, you two think she sees me as a friend?" Beck asked.

"Well yeah," Cryosphere said, "Just because she doesn't have emotions doesn't mean you two aren't friends."

"The bezzzt advizzze I can give you, just be yourzzzelf, Beck. That'zzz alwayzzz worked for you before."

Before Beck could say anything, the intercom came on.

"Beck, could you please report to my room?" Call asked, "I require your assistance with something."

"Looks like the Ice Queen is calling her knight," Cryosphere said, "Good luck, Tiger."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Dynatron said with a toothy grin.

"That list isn't too small," Beck said rising up. As his sisters laughed, he walked out of the cafeteria over to Call's room. Actually, he had never even entered this room before. She didn't let anyone in her room except for Dr. Sanda.

He slowly knocked on the door.

"It is open, Beck. You may enter."

Beck took a deep breath and opened the door walking inside. Her room was different than what Beck expected. The walls were pink, and her bed was surprisingly frilly. On the left side of the room, Beck saw a bookshelf full of mystery books, mostly Sherlock Holmes novels. Naturally in the center of the room was a large complicated computer, which was where Call was sitting at the moment.

"Please close the door, Beck," Call requested. Beck's face turned red.

"Um… sure," Beck said closing the door behind him, "So… what's up?"

"Do you remember earlier today, when you mentioned my behavior as of late?" Call asked.

"Yeah, I remember," Beck said.

"If you desire to get comfortable, you may sit on my bed," Call said, "I do not mind."

"O-okay," Beck said, slowly walking to her bed and sitting down. He was surprised by how soft it was.

"The truth is, for the last few days I have experienced a number of odd anomalies in my functionality," Call explained, "The first one being at the factory."

"What happened there?" Beck asked.

"I was trying to figure that out for a while, and as such I examined all of my internal systems," Call said, pulling up her information, "My CPU, my core, even my xels, I have examined all of them."

"Um, Call? I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about those things," Beck admitted, "I'm just a combat robot."

"That is fine," Call said, "I have already come up with a theory of what is happening to me, but that theory does not make any sense."

"W-what's your theory?" Beck asked. Call slowly turned her chair around to face Beck.

"At the factory, I witnessed you getting hurt. Witnessing that caused a reactionary increase in adrenaline, an inability to think critically, and a sudden increase in irrational behavior."

"Um… translation?" Beck asked.

"Simply put, I was angry," Call said. It took a second, but Beck looked at Call in shock.

"Hold on!" Beck said, "You felt an emotion?!"

"Affirmative," Call said getting up and pacing around the room, "That was not the only instance either. Shortly after, during our fight in the Colosseum, I experiences a series of sensations that are synonymous with fear, and earlier today an altercation brought out sensations similar to anger, but with a bit of fear mixed in as well."

That confirmed something Beck was thinking earlier. He'd have to have a word with Lynx later.

"Do you know where these emotions are coming from?" Beck asked leaning forward.

"Negative," Call said, "This is concerning. I cannot isolate the cause of these anomalies, nor do they happen on command."

"Why are you telling _me_ this?" Beck asked, "There isn't much I can do to help, is there?"

"Simple," Call said stopping and looking at Beck, "You are my best friend, Beck."

"I'm… your _what_?" Beck asked, eyes wide in shock.

"Though I do not have emotions," she caught herself and averted her eyes, "Rather, though I _normally_ do not possess emotions, I have always valued your input and presence. You have proven early to be someone worthy of trust, and therefore I consider you someone important to me. Does that not match the definition of a best friend?"

"It does! It does!" Beck said getting up, "It's just, I'm shocked. I… well, I've wanted to be friends with you for the longest."

Call actually looked surprised, "You have?"

"Yes! Literally, I _just_ got finished talking to Cryo and Dyna about how to approach you about this. I didn't know that, well, you already considered me a friend."

"Really? I thought I made that obvious," Call said, "Hm… it seems emotions are truly important in terms of relaying intentions. Either way, the truth is I _do_ need your help with this."

"Sure, anything," Beck said, "How can I help?"

"I wish to trigger it," Call said, "In order to finalize my theory, I must experience emotion again. You are the only one I trust with this, Beck," she looked down, "Please Beck, help me."

Beck walked over to Call and took her hands, "You don't even have to ask. Of course I'll help. Hey, maybe we could recreate the factory mission."

"Recreate it? How would that help?" Call asked.

"Professor White says that sometimes experiencing a past event can trigger the emotions as if they're happening again," Beck explained.

"So by reliving the incident, I can experience the emotion again," Call said, "Affirmative. Let us try that."

"Great! I know how to work the VR Room, so we don't even have to tell Professor White about it," Beck said. He was about to walk out, but Call grabbed his hand, "C-Call?"

Call did something sort of odd. She pulled Beck back and embraced him from behind.

"Thank you Beck," Call said, "I was correct in trusting you with this."

"Y-you're welcome," Beck said, blushing from the contact. Was she feeling anything right now, or was she just being nice, doing a gesture that she knew a friend would do? Beck decided it didn't matter in the scheme of things.

He and Call were friends. Apparently, they were _best_ friends. Beck didn't remember the last time he was this happy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 _Date: July 17, 20xx_

 _Entry: With Beck's assistance I was able to recreate the scenario from the factory, in the hopes that I can feel the emotions I felt again. I am not sure why I am so obsessed with this; if I wish to prevent more outbursts or if I wish to have them more often, but either way, I must feel the emotions in a controlled manner._

 _So far, we have been unsuccessful in triggering the emotions, but not due to any lack on either of our parts. Rather, it feels as though something is missing. Beck does not mind continuing to work with me throughout the day, for which I am grateful._

 _Ending log_

 _Signature: Call_

* * *

Dr. Valentine sighed, "You have to be more careful, Phoenix."

"I apologize, Mother," Phoenix said looking dejected, "My behavior was out of line."

Dr. Valentine looked down at Phoenix with a somber smile, "Honestly, it seems like all you and Lynx do is argue these days."

Dr. Valentine returned to Phoenix's repairs. She was happy that Dr. White had let her use his lab and equipment, which was pretty state of the art.

"Mother, are you disappointed in me?" Phoenix asked.

"Why would I be disappointed?" Dr. Valentine asked.

"Yesterday, I failed my mission," Phoenix said, "I was unable to defeat Mighty no. 9 and his partner."

"Well, you weren't able to use your full power," Dr. Valentine said, "You were advised to not fight at full strength."

"But should that matter?" Phoenix asked, "Strength is everything, and power is absolute, right? I should have been able to defeat him even without using my full power. Or what if that wouldn't be enough either? I cannot train myself adequately if I do not know my limit," Phoenix sat up and grasped Dr. Valentine earnestly, "Please Mother, let me fight Mighty no. 9 again, but with the Rage Circuit at full power! If I can, then-"

"La patience, Phoenix, la patience," Dr. Valentine said, "You will get your chance, I'm sure. For now, just relax. And no more fighting with Lynx. She is the leader now, remember?"

Phoenix sighed, "I understand Mother. I apologize for being inadequate."

"Non non non, mon cher," Dr. Valentine said taking Phoenix's clawed hand, "You are not inadequate. You are the oldest, just like the Mighty Numbers' fire member ironically. You are a key member to Team Blitz, Phoenix."

"Thank you… Mother," Phoenix said looking down, "I wish to go meditate."

"I have finished your repairs, so you should be fine if you take it easy for a bit," Dr. Valentine said, "And I mean it. Take the rest of the day off."

"Understood Mother," Phoenix said rising to her feet. She bowed to Dr. Valentine, and walked out of the lab, going past Dr. Sanda, who seemed to have been there for a while. He nodded to Phoenix as she left, and then turned to Dr. Valentine.

"So, you continued with the experiment, Videl," Dr. Sanda asked.

"Just because you gave up doesn't mean I did," Dr. Valentine said, "I believe in what we were trying to achieve."

"Videl, we both lost so much in that expirament," Dr. Sanda said, "The Rage Circuit is to dangerous."

"Says the one who completely gave up!" Dr Valentine said turning to Dr. Sanda, "I can't believe what you did to her!"

"Believe me, I hate myself for it every day," Dr. Sanda said looking pained, "But if I didn't, she'd-"

"What? It's not like she was any more dangerous than her sisters!" she stomped over to Dr. Sanda, "We could have saved her! We could have perfected it! I _did_ perfect it!"

"Giving robots _that_ ability is too dangerous!" Dr. Sanda argued, "I've seen what the Mighty Numbers were capable of doing _without_ the Rage Circuit! What if Team Blitz were to catch a virus like Trinity?! Didn't that _happen_ to Lynx?!"

"Lynx was contained, Soichiro! And now she's the most in control of the Rage Circuit! In fact," Dr. Valentine's expression changed to a smirk, "If you wish, you can see her in action tonight in the Colosseum."

"She's fighting?" Dr. Sanda asked, looking concerned.

"That wasn't the original plan, but Tiger gets too afraid to fight alone," Dr. Valentine explained, "I'll have her use more of her full power, so you can see the Rage Circuit utilized."

"Videl, the Colosseum isn't a blood sport!" Dr. Sanda said grabbing Dr. Valentine's arms, "If she can't control herself, she'll destroy-"

"Do you have that little faith in me?" Dr. Valentine asked, "Lynx isn't a mad machine like you seem to think she is, nor am I a mad scientist."

"Videl-" she shoved past Dr. Sanda and sauntered out of the room. He still didn't believe in her. She loved him, but he angered her to no end. She'd show him the true power of the Rage Circuit, and remind him of the man he used to be. The man she fell in love with.

* * *

In the VR Room, Beck and Call had been working for hours, but sadly there wasn't a change. In fact, now it was beginning to seem more and more routine, and if Call's expression was anything to go by, she was in her own way beginning to feel discouraged.

"I do not believe this is working," Call said. Beck sat on the floor in exhaustion.

"Geez, what's missing?" Beck asked lying on the ground, "Argh! This is so frustrating!" Call turned to look at Beck and sat down next to him.

"If you wish, we can take a break," Call said.

"Thanks Call," Beck said, "Don't worry, we're not giving up."

"Your perseverance is admirable, Beck," Call said, "I have not shown any signs of emotion since we began the exercise, yet you seem just as devoted as we began. Why are you working so hard to help me?"

"Because it's what you want," Beck said, "I don't mind working on this with you, even if it takes me all day. Hell, I don't mind if it takes even longer."

The look on her face was one of confusion. Did she really not understand any of that?

"Call, do you remember anything else about the mission?" Beck asked.

"Anything else? Like what?" Call asked.

"Let's see… like, what was going on in your head? What you saw right before, or how you were thinking."

"How I was thinking? I remember it becoming quite hard to think," Call explained, "All I wanted was to hurt the construction robot."

"Do you remember why?" Beck asked, continuing when he sensed Call's confusion, "It'll help, trust me."

"It is hazy, but… wait. I believe I remember something."

"What? What?" Beck asked sitting up.

"I think I was angry… because it hurt you," Call said looking at Beck, "Actually, when I think about it, you have been the focus of many of these anomalies."

"R-really?" Beck asked, "Hmm, I might have an idea."

Beck sat up and walked to the control panel of the VR Room. What he had planned was risky, and technically it was really stupid. If anyone were to figure out what he did, they'd be furious at him, which was _exactly_ what Beck was hoping for.

"Alright then, let's try this again," Beck said, "This time I removed Ray from the simulation, and made a few changes to the difficulty."

"What sort of changes?" Call asked getting up.

"I set the difficulty to max," Beck said simply. Call looked at Beck, somewhat shocked. As the construction robot began walking up to them, both Beck and Call stepped away from it.

"Have you beaten simulations at max difficulty," Call asked.

"Nope," Beck said, "Only Pyro can do that, and even then he's exhausted afterward. But hey, I'm basically the star of the Mighty Numbers now, right?" Beck smirked, trying to hide how much he was sweating, "So I should be able to handle this."

"Beck-" Call called out, but Beck cut her off by running at the construction robot screaming. He fired his gun arm at it, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. Instead, the construction robot whacked Beck _hard_ into the side wall.

Simulation or not, _that_ hurt.

"End simulation," Call said immediately. As Beck forced himself up, Call walked over to him looking somewhat scary, "Beck, that was incredibly irresponsible of you."

"C-Call, I-"

"Setting the difficulty to max made the damage dealt real. Had I not stopped that, you might have been actually hurt."

"I-I know, but-"

"And what was this about you being the actual star of the Mighty Numbers?" Call fussed, this time putting her hands on her hips and leaning forward, "Being strong is no reason to get cocky. You're not as strong as Pyrogen, so you have to know your limits."

"Call!" Beck called out, "Do you see what you're doing?"

It took a second, but Call eventually caught herself, "I am fussing at you. I am… angry at you…?"

"I thought so," Beck said, "The problem was we were treating the issue like it was a trauma, but that's not what happened. You were just angry at seeing me hurt. Here in the VR Room, you knew that any damage we took was fake, so there wasn't any worry. So I made it real."

"I see," Call said nodding, "That was genius. Irritating, and I must request that you not put yourself in danger like that again, but quite genius."

"Thanks," Beck said rubbing the back of his head, "And I'll be more careful from now on. Now, you've felt anger again. How did it feel?"

"Actually, it felt… invigorating…? Yes, I believe that is the word," Call said.

"Invigorating…?" Beck asked, "Well, I guess it makes sense. I mean, you literally haven't ever felt anything before now, right?"

"Not that I am aware, no," Call said.

"Then what you're feeling is something akin to relief," Beck said, "That makes me really wonder what's going on here. Why are you feeling emotions? You weren't built with emotions right?"

"Negative," Call said, "Beck, what is happening to me?"

"I don't know," Beck said putting his hand on Call's shoulder, "But we'll figure this out together, alright?"

"Beck, could we…" before she could ask anything, a brief song like a news station played all around them.

"This is Avi with Avi News, coming at you live with a breaking news special report," Aviator said, "Joining me today is our newest junior reporter, Bunny. Would you like to introduce yourself Bunny?"

Aviator, who was hovering in front of one of his camera drones picked up Bunny, who was holding a black and green microphone.

"Hi hi! Thank you Avi! I'm Bunny, and I'm _so_ happy to be a part of Avi News!" Bunny said, actually sounding like a co-anchor herself.

"Oh my God…" Beck said shaking his head.

"At four o'clock pm, Mighty Number favorite Beck, known among the city as Mighty no. 9 was seen spending an extensive amount of time with partner Call in the training room, doing the same simulation over and over again. We have Bunny live on the scene. Bunny?"

The camera drone now flew in front of Bunny, "Thanks Avi! I'm here in the VR Room with Mighty no. 9 and Call after a harsh period of training," Bunny ran over to Beck and Call, turning into a blur she ran so fast, "Beck, is there anything you and Call would like to share with Avi News about the amount of time you've spent here in the VR Room together?"

"Uh…" holy shit, had they been watching them this entire time? Beck was getting really nervous.

"Rumors are being spread that the two of you are possibly in a _relationship._ Would you like to deny or confirm these claims?" Bunny said with a smirk. Now Beck _knew_ he was in trouble. He needed to figure out something fast before-

"That is correct," Call said. Beck, Bunny, and Aviator all turned to Call in shock.

"What?" Aviator asked.

"What?" Bunny asked.

"What?" Beck asked, probably the most confused of them all.

"Beck and I have decided to enter a liaison of sorts," Call continued walking up to Beck and taking his arm, "Though I do not possess emotions, I wish to experience being in a relationship, and I have chosen Beck to be my boyfriend."

What was happening? Was this a dream? It _had_ to be a dream.

Aviator and Bunny looked sort of confused. They looked at each other, and then looked at Beck sheepishly.

"Well um… good job Beck," Aviator said, "Um… I'm going to go and… think about my life…"

"I'll… join you…" Bunny said. She and Aviator slowly walked/flew out of the VR Room. Once alone again, Beck turned to Call with wide eyes.

"What. The hell. Was _that_?!" Beck asked.

"What do you mean?" Call asked.

"You! Me! Avi! Bunny! _What_?!" Beck asked.

"I told Mighty no. 6 that we were dating," Call said simply.

"You _know_ Avi! He's not going to be able to shut up about this!" Beck said.

"I know that," Call said, "In fact, I am counting on it."

"Huh…?" Beck asked. Call walked forward with her hands behind her back.

"It is easier for us to have Mighty no. 6 think that we are dating," Call explained, "Remember that I do not wish for the others to know the actual nature of these meets, so I have decided that it is easier for them to believe that we are in a relationship," she turned to Beck with the most adorable look, "Unless you find me unappealing."

"Uh…" Beck asked, his face turning red.

"Well? Do you think I am cute, Mighty no. 9?" Call asked, shuffling a bit. She looked _too_ cute.

"Uh… well _yeah_! I… uh… think you're cute, it's just… oh man…" Beck said, unsure of what Call was thinking. Was she being serious, or was she kidding? No, she couldn't be kidding. That wasn't in her programming. But that would mean she was being serious, which was _also_ impossible. She had _just_ started having emotions, so it was too soon for her to begin having feelings for him. But if she wasn't stable enough to control them yet…

This was too much to think about right now. Besides, there was something else that caught Beck's attention.

"Hold on…" Beck said, "Call, you did that so Avi wouldn't know the truth, right?"

"That is correct," Call said. After a second she looked surprised, "Wait. Beck, did I just…"

"Lie? Yeah. You did," Beck said, "That's not the only time you've lied either."

"No it is not," Call said, "Beck, I-"

"There you guys are," this time Dr. White said walking into the VR Room.

"P-Professor!" Beck cried standing up straight, "I'm not doing anything! I swear!"

Dr. White looked at Beck, blinked a few times, and then shook it off, "Listen, Team Blitz is having another fight tonight. This time it's Lynx fighting in a full on tournament."

"Lynx is fighting?" Beck asked. He had wanted to see her anyway to talk to her about her run in with Call.

"The Mighty Numbers are not entering?" Call asked.

"Not this time. Dr. Valentine said she wants us to see her robots perform at their full power," Dr. White said, "If you two are busy, don't worry about it, but I figured you'd probably want to know."

"We'll think about it," Beck said, "Could we meet you there, just in case we decide to skip it?"

"Sure thing Beck," Dr. White said, "Oh, and congratulations you two."

Dr. White smiled at Beck, and then walked out. It took a second to realize what he meant, but when he did he was mortified.

"Well _that_ didn't take long," Beck sighed. He turned to Call, who was looking to the side nervously. She was trembling again, "Call? Is this another emotion?"

"I think so," Call said, "Whenever I think of Lynx, my entire body begins to tremble. Beck, what is this feeling?"

"I think you're afraid," Beck said rubbing Call's shoulder, "Does Lynx upset you?"

"I do not know," Call admitted, "She did not hurt me physically. Actually, feeling any sort of fear and animosity toward her is irrational because she did not do any physical harm to me."

"But she bullied you, right?" Beck asked.

"Bully? I do not understand, Beck."

"She pushed you around, knowing that she was making you uncomfortable," Beck explained, "It's okay for you to want to avoid her. If you want, we can stay here and-"

"Negative," Call said, "If you are correct, then running away from her gives her the victory. I will not give her the satisfaction. As long as you are with me, I will be fine."

Beck wasn't sure this was a good idea, but he understood how she felt. She wanted to stand up to her bully, and Beck could respect that. He'd just have to keep her safe. They weren't _actually_ dating, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to protect her like she was his _actual_ girlfriend.

Hell, he pretty much did that already, so what else was new.

* * *

"Well this has been quite the upset!" the announcer said, "Looks like the Colosseum has a new champion on par with Beck! Lynx from Team Blitz is going to the finals!"

As the crowd cheered, Lynx looked around at the audience and waved, blowing kisses and winking. She eventually sauntered back into the back area, where Hydra, Dragon, Phoenix, and Dr. Valentine waited for her.

"C'est magnifique, Lynx," Dr. Valentine said, pulling out some of her equipment to look Lynx over.

"Thank you, Mother," Lynx said, "These robots are a joke."

"You wouldn't be so smug if you were fighting Mighty no. 9," Phoenix said, folding her arms and looking aside.

"Aw, still sour because you lost to Becky-poo?" Lynx taunted.

"I _didn't_ lose to Mighty no. 9," Phoenix said, "They employed a strategy focusing on Unicorn. Besides, I wasn't allowed to use my full power."

"Well, too bad we all can't have the authority to be great," Lynx said, "Speaking of, it's the finals Mother. Can I unleash my full power now? Can I Mother?"

"I am not sure this is wise," Hydra said, "If Lynx can't control herself, she could do lasting damage to her opponent."

"This is a no rules match," Lynx fussed, "I'm allowed to do whatever I want as long as I don't destroy them."

"I _did_ say that I wanted Soichiro to see what the Rage Circuit could do," Dr. Valentine said, "Very well, you can have your fun, Lynx."

Lynx squealed happily and hugged Dr. Valentine, "Thank you Mother!"

As Lynx skipped out to the field, Dragon walked over to Dr. Valentine.

"She's going to take it too far," Dragon said, "You know how she is."

"True, but she's the best one to have show this off," Dr. Valentine said, "It will be fine. Come girls, let's find a good place to watch this."

As Dr. Valentine walked off with Hydra and Dragon, Phoenix took one last look at Lynx before following after her mother and sisters.

The audience was loving the fights, especially with Lynx going so far. Her fights were exciting, especially with how much smaller she was than most of her opponents, as she was about as tall as a regular seventeen year old girl. The Mighty Numbers, Dr. Sanda, Dr. White, and Call were all there, Beck and Call naturally sitting next to each other.

Beck was as excited as everyone else, but he still hadn't forgotten what he had to tell Lynx. She made Call uncomfortable, and Beck didn't like that at all. He looked over at Dr. Sanda, who also looked surprisingly tense.

"Well, I have to say, Lynx is definitely strong," Dr. White said, "Though I almost don't see what it is so special about her."

"She's waiting for this fight," Dr. Sanda said, "She wants to put on a show."

"Dr. Sanda, what exactly does she want to show us?" Beck asked. Dr. Sanda sighed before speaking.

"Something that she and I worked on together," Dr. Sanda explained, "I eventually deemed it unethical, but apparently she decided to continue with the experiments. It's a system designed to utilize the robots emotions to augment their powers."

"Could robots really get stronger using their emotions?" Call asked. Dr. Sanda looked at Call sadly before answering.

"Well, like I said, the program was deemed unethical because of what it did to the robot using it," Dr. Sanda explained, "The idea of her perfecting it…"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final match is about to begin!" the announcer said, "First in the red corner, our newest growing champion, Lynx!"

Lynx sauntered out onto the field, but this time something seemed off. She had a dangerous look in her eyes, and the air that she was giving off was odd.

"She's different," Countershade said, "Her muscles are tensing up differently, and she's showing more focus."

"Yeah, as a fellow warrior, I can feel it too," Brandish said, "This fight isn't going to be like the other ones."

"And in the blue corner, returning five time champion, Sir Darwin!" the announcer said. This time a large, bulky robot walked out. He stood at least ten feet tall, and looked like a knight in black and gold armor. Blue eyes were visible from the helmet, and his left arm was a spiked ball-n-chain.

"I have seen your fights thus far, m'lady," Darwin said, "I consider it an honor to face an opponent as powerful as-"

"How much did it cost for your creator to make you?" Lynx asked, shocking Sir Darwin.

"Um… what?"

"I was just curious. It would give me an estimate of how much you're repairs are going to cost," Lynx said with a dangerous yet sensual smirk. Sir Darwin laughed.

"You've got spirit! I like that! But you will not win this fight the same way you won your others."

"Oh you're right," Lynx licked her lips, "This time I actually get to enjoy myself."

"Robots, are you ready?!" the announcer asked. Darwin let loose his ball-n-chain and held the chain with his other hand, getting in his fighting stance. On the other side, Lynx knelt down on all fours wagging her tail slowly and looking up at Darwin with a seductive smirk.

"Battle set! GO!"

Darwin swung his ball-n-chain and threw it forward, but Lynx jumped to the side out of the way and then rushed at him on all fours. When she reached Darwin, she jumped up and began kicking and slashing him continuously, actually pushing him back a bit.

"Lynx actually has Sir Darwin on the defensive!" the announcer shouted.

"She can't actually defeat sir Darwin!" Brandish said, "He's the reigning champion!"

"We can't judge the lass yet," Countershade said, "She's smaller, but she's also a lot faster."

Beck looked at Call, who once again was trembling looking at the fight. Something about the way Lynx was fighting now was off, and it looked like Beck wasn't the only one who caught that.

Lynx jumped away from Darwin, who slammed his spike ball onto the ground. Lynx rolled to the side, and then looked up at Darwin with a manic smile.

"Are you ready, big boy?!" Lynx asked.

"Ready? For what?" Darwin asked.

"You got me all excited now," Lynx said, "The idea of beating the reigning champion is just too much fun! My entire body feels like it's on FIRE!" she cried out, screaming as red energy exploded off of her.

"W-what's this?" the announcer asked, "Something is happening to Lynx!"

Lynx looked at Darwin with a manic smile, making Darwin step back in shock.

"I'm going to enjoy this!" Lynx said.

"W-what happened to you…?" Sir Darwin asked backing away from Lynx.

"I've just decided to release myself," Lynx said, "You're not scared, are you Sir Darwin? I mean, you're the reigning champion, right?!" as she spoke, she sounded like she was getting more and more excited.

"Um…" Darwin said, now sweating a bit.

"You're _so much bigger_ than me, so I should be an easy victory! That's right, isn't it?! THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE THINKING THIS WHOLE TIME, RIGHT?!"

In the stands, Dr. White, Dr. Sanda, and everyone looked at Lynx in horror.

"Sanda… what's going on…?" Dr. White asked slowly. Dr. Sanda closed his eyes painfully.

"That, William… is the Rage Circuit…" Dr. Sanda said sadly.

Darwin must have sensed that he was in danger, because he threw his spike ball at Lynx, who moved out of the way and grabbed his chain.

"GET OVER HERE!" she screamed, yanking the chain and _pulling_ Sir Darwin toward her. Once he was right in front of her, she kicked him in the head knocking him back onto the ground, "Come on, Sir Darwin! You can do better than that right?! These people came here for a show, so let's give them one!" she turned to the audience, "Am I right, people?! This is what you came to see!"

Honesty, the audience didn't know what to think about what they were seeing. Something about this fight just wasn't entertaining.

Sir Darwin slowly rose to his feet, but Lynx ran toward him on all fours. She then rolled into a ball, turning into a razor wheel and tackling him back down onto the ground. Not losing any momentum, she turned around and shot through his chain this time, actually _shattering_ it.

There was a unified gasp from the crowd.

"Did… did that just… happen…?" the announcer asked. It sounded like he didn't even know _what_ to think anymore.

"Y-y-you…!" Sir Darwin cried looking at his now broken arm. He looked forward and saw Lynx sauntering over to him, twirling her tail in one hand and smiling at him lustfully, "No…! Stay away from me!"

Lynx backed him up against the wall, and then crawled on him getting right in his face.

"This right here," Lynx said, "This is my favorite part."

"W-what…?"

"The part where you cry, scream, and beg me to stop, but I just keep going," her giggle was so genuinely innocent it was terrifying, "Have to give the audience what they want, don't I?"

She then stood on his body, lifted her leg into the air, and actually slammed her foot onto his chest, actually _denting_ his armor. He screamed in pain of course, and Lynx began slashing at his chest continuously, laughing the entire time.

As this went on, all of the Mighty Numbers looked away in horror. Poor Aviator looked like he was going to be sick, and Dynatron was in Pyrogen's arms covering her eyes crying.

"This is too cold…" Cryosphere said softly.

"Cold? More like disgusting…!" Brandish said tightening his fist, "Has she no honor at all?!"

"This has to stop," Seismic said, "He's going to destabilize soon."

"Where's her commanding officer?!" Battalion shouted, "Why is she letting this continue?!"

Beck looked at Call, and immediately took her hand. Call was definitely trembling now, and the look on her face was one of visible horror.

"Call? What are you feeling?" Beck asked.

"T-t-t-terror…!" Call whispered, "Lynx… terrifies… me…!"

"Call…" Beck said, immediately embracing Call to hide her tears from Dr. White and Dr. Sanda, both of them glued to the sight before them.

"The Rage Circuit…" Dr. Sanda said, "It… puts the robot in a state of heightened emotion… which can alter their powers… making them up to ten times as strong as the naturally are…"

"My God…" Dr. White said, "I've made some unethical choices… but this is…"

Both Sanda and White looked across the stands right at Dr. Valentine, who's expression was something of a glare.

Once Sir Darwin ceased movement, and his body began to destabilize into red xels, Lynx jumped off him and took a deep breath, making the aura vanish.

"Hey!" she called out to the announcer, "I won, right?! Make the call!"

"Um… right! The winner of the tournament… and new champion of the Battle Colosseum… is Lynx of Team Blitz!" the announcer called out. It took a second, but slowly the crowd started clapping, but not very loudly. It seemed like everyone there felt heavier.

Gregory Graham walked out into the arena with Trinity and presented Lynx with a gold medal.

"Congratulations," Mr. Graham said, clearly a little nervous himself, "That was… some fight Miss."

"Mm, I'm not satisfied," Lynx said, "As champion, I can call for one last fight, right?"

"Um… I s-suppose," Mr. Graham said turning to Trinity, who shrugged, "Who would you possibly ask to fight?"

"I want to fight…" Lynx scoured the audience actually, smiling when she found her opponent, " _him_ ," she said, pointing right at the stands.

At Beck…

"She… wants to fight me…?" Beck asked.

"Hold on! She can't do that!" Dr. White shouted, "Can she?!"

"There is… sadly no rule against it…" Call said, trying her hardest apparently to not show emotion, "In the end though, it is still up to Beck to make the final decision."

"Come on, Beck!" Lynx called out walking toward him a bit, "I know you want to fight me too! This is the moment you've been waiting for, isn't it?"

"Beck, you don't have to go out there!" Pyrogen shouted.

"Zzzcrew that! He _can't_ go out there!" Dynatron cried.

"Stand down, soldier!" Battalion ordered.

"She's just trying to boost her own ego now," Countershade said, "You owe her nothing."

"Beck… please listen to us!" Brandish said, "Don't go down there!"

"Let one of us fight her instead!" Seismic said, "If she wants a fight so badly, I say we give her one!"

"Come on Beck, let's just jet on out of here!" Aviator said.

"Seriously, give that bitch the cold shoulder!" Cryosphere commanded.

It felt nice to hear how much his siblings cared about him. They were worried, and with good reason too. Not even Pyrogen or Countershade were a match for Sir Darwin, and they were the strongest on the team. Yet Lynx was able too…

"What is she doing?" Dragon asked.

"I knew she'd go too far!" Hydra shouted.

"Ho hum, this isn't going to be pretty," Unicorn said, looking at herself in a mirror with a bored expression.

"Mommy, is this okay?" Bunny asked looking up at her creator, who was holding Tiger comfortingly.

"As long as she doesn't destroy Beck, it should be fine," Dr. Valentine said, "Maybe this is the test Soichiro needs."

"Hmph!" Phoenix turned away, folding her arms scowling.

"So what's it gonna be, Beck?" Lynx asked, leaning forward and wagging her tail smiling sensually, "Are you going to run away, or are you going to fight?"

Beck glared at Lynx, gritted his teeth, and did something that had the entire audience gasping. He _stood up_.

"I accept!" Beck shouted.

"Beck?!" Dr. White cried.

"Don't do it Beck!" Dr. Sanda requested.

"I have to," Beck said, actually standing a bit in front of Call as if defending her, "This fight… is personal…!"

 _And when I'm done with you Lynx, you're going to apologize for upsetting Call!_

Beck and Lynx met eyes, Beck gritting his teeth angrily, but Lynx smirking sensually. No matter who won, this fight was definitely going to be explosive.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 _Date: July 17, 20xx_

 _Entry: Beck has accepted Lynx's challenge in the Battle Colosseum. I have never seen a robot fight as ruthlessly as her, and the Rage Circuit is truly horrifying._

 _I wish Beck would not fight her. It is not that I doubt his power, but I believe I am afraid. I do not wish for Beck to be hurt, and with how badly she harmed Sir Darwin…_

 _Beck… don't fight her…_

 _Ending Log_

 _Signature: Call_

* * *

Beck sat in the locker room, thinking about what happened only a few minutes ago. Lynx was probably the most terrifying robot he had ever faced. Sure, there was Trinity, but she wasn't in the right head at the time. She didn't really know what she was doing, unlike Lynx.

Yet knowing this, he still…

 _Flashback_

" _So what's it gonna be, Beck?" Lynx asked, leaning forward and wagging her tail smiling sensually, "Are you going to run away, or are you going to fight?"_

 _Beck glared at Lynx, gritted his teeth, and did something that had the entire audience gasping. He stood up._

" _I accept!" Beck said._

" _Beck?!" Dr. White cried._

" _Don't do it Beck!" Dr. Sanda requested._

" _I have to," Beck said, actually standing a bit in front of Call as if defending her, "This fight… is personal…!"_

 _End Flashback_

Beck was terrified, of course. I mean, who wouldn't be, after seeing what Lynx was capable of. Even still, he still accepted her challenge. He looked down at his hand, thinking about all of his powers. Would they be enough against the Rage Circuit?

"Beck?"

Beck looked at the door of the locker room, where he saw Call standing, looking down.

"Call?" Beck asked, standing up and walking over to her, "What's wrong?"

"I do not wish for you to fight Lynx," Call said, "She only wishes to fight you to make a point."

"I realize," Beck said with a sigh.

"Neither Mighty no. 1 or Mighty no. 8 are capable of defeating Sir Darwin, yet she was able to defeat him with ease."

"Yeah… I know."

"Lynx is guaranteed to use the Rage Circuit against you at some point."

"Yeah, probably…"

"If you are aware of this, then why are you-"

"She called me out," Beck said looking down, "I… I used to be terrified of fighting, remember? I was the weakest link of the Mighty Numbers. Now my siblings, the Professor, and the whole crowd see me as this hero, when in reality I'm just a robot who took action because he could. Even right now, thinking about what Lynx did to Darwin…" he held his hand up to Call smiling, showing her how much it was shaking.

"Beck…" Call said gently taking his hand.

"She's testing me, and the faith the crowd has in me," Beck said, "If I run away from this, then I'll just be proving to her that I haven't changed at all since before the Trinity Incident, and she knows that."

"So the only alternative is to face her and risk termination?" Call asked quietly, "I do not understand Beck. Why are you going out there knowing the odds are so stacked against you?"

Beck _so_ wanted to tell Call the real reason why he was doing this. That _she_ was the main reason. But, he couldn't just outright say that. Sure, everyone now thought they were in a relationship, but the truth was they were just friends. If he started acting too much like her boyfriend out in the open, he might make her uncomfortable.

In the end, he just pulled Call in close, hugging her tightly.

"I'll be okay," Beck said, "I promise you, no matter what I won't die out there."

"I am holding you to that," Call said, slowly returning the embrace. Beck released Call after a few seconds, and ran to the stadium. Yeah, he was terrified, but seeing the look on Call's face showed him why he had to do this. She needed to see that Lynx wasn't invincible, and that she could be taken down.

Now if only he could convince himself that.

* * *

Realizing that she failed in her attempt to dissuade Beck, Call fell to her knees. She experienced another anomaly shortly after. This one caused her to tremble, and before she knew it water began leaking from her eyes.

"B-Beck…" Call sobbed, "Please… j-just run away… I can't… l-lose you…"

Unknown to her, Unicorn was around a corner leaning against a wall, using her mirror to look at herself and Call.

"Looks like her plan is working," Unicorn said with a smirk.

* * *

Beck walked out into the stadium, where Lynx still stood in the middle waiting for him. Naturally as he walked out, the crowd cheered loudly, chanting "Mighty Number 9" loudly. He paid them no mind though, as his eyes were solely on Lynx.

Lynx smirked sensually at Beck, wagging her tail slowly behind her as Beck approached her.

"You actually came," Lynx taunted, "I was afraid that you'd turn tail and run away at the last minute."

"Why did you hurt Sir Darwin?" Beck asked. Lynx's eyes went wide for a second before she spoke.

"Um, excuse me?"

"The fight was long over. He lost his weapon, he begged you to stop, but you kept going. Why?"

Lynx looked at Beck with an incredulous smile, "You're… kidding me, right? You're really going to ask me that question _here_?"

"The Battle Colosseum isn't a place for robots to just hurt one another! This is a place of competition! A place for entertainment! Not a place where-"

"Shut up."

Beck stopped instantly, stepping back a bit as Lynx's entire air changed. She stopped smiling, and was looking down at Beck in a way where the light was reflecting off her glasses, making her eyes impossible to see.

"Do you know why I did it Beck? The same reason I might do the same to you. Darwin was _weak_ , and I'm strong."

"W-what…?" Beck asked.

"Strength is everything, and power is absolute. That's the philosophy that Team Blitz has always been built off of. What it means is that only the strong lead, and only the ones with power survive. You Mighty Numbers may have companionship, team work, _love_ , but none of that means anything if you're weak.

"But none of that matters anymore, because I'm strong now. I'll prove it too, right here, right now, by ripping you to pieces if I have to, xel by xel. Now what's it going to be Beck? Are you strong, or are you weak? If so, let me know right now so I can just get it over with."

Holy hell, this girl was terrifying. Beck got a bad feeling from her before, but now he was beginning to see why Call was so afraid of her. She felt… nothing. No empathy, no pain, no compassion, not even guilt. Was this how Team Blitz went about fighting? Did that philosophy create this monster?

Beck tightened his fists and stepped away from Lynx, standing at his starting position. Lynx smirked and sauntered over to her spot, getting down on all fours and eying Beck with a serious glare. Beck could sense it. _This_ was the fight she wanted. She didn't want to fight a generic champion made here in the Colosseum. She to face a real champion.

She wanted to face Mighty no. 9…

* * *

"Well, this is it," Dr. White said.

"I hope Beck is strong enough to face the Rage Circuit," Dr. Sanda said.

The Mighty Numbers all looked at the two Professors, and then returned their attention to the fight, all praying for their baby brother's safety.

* * *

Call stood back at the door of the stadium, leaning against the wall and looking at Beck. She didn't need to analyze the anomaly she was experiencing right now. She knew she was afraid.

"Beck…" Call said.

Unicorn returned to her seat next to Hydra.

"Where were you all this time?" Hydra asked.

"I was checking on you-know-what," Unicorn said, "Looks like things are going just as we planned them to."

"Hmph!" Phoenix turned away from everyone.

"Phoenix, what is the matter, ma chère," Dr. Valentine asked.

"Lynx…" Phoenix seethed, "Don't you take this away from me…!" she looked down at the stadium with gritted teeth, "Mighty no. 9 is _mine…_!"

* * *

Lying on top of a pillar nearby was Ray. She always attended these, mainly to see Beck. She didn't know that Beck was scheduled to fight, and honestly she didn't know how she felt about it. Truthfully though, while she still revered Beck, it was that other robot he was facing that truly caught her attention.

"Why…?" Ray asked, "Why does my core recoil at the sight of you…?"

* * *

"Looks like our two combatants are ready to throw down!" the announcer shouted, "Will Mighty no. 9 take home the victory, or is this new rising star going to be too much even for him? Robots, are you ready? Battle set! GO!"

Lynx charged at Beck and slashed wildly and ferociously. Beck backed away from her assault, using his arms to block her attacks. He then rolled to the side and activated his Buster Gun, firing rapidly at Lynx. She jumped out of the way of all of his attack, and then charged at him as a razor wheel.

Beck managed to roll out of the way of her attack, but much like with Sir Darwin, Lynx turned around and rolled in the other direction, actually hitting him in the back.

"Beck!" Dr. White cried out, Dr. Sanda behind him biting his nails.

Beck rose to his knees, but heard Lynx cry out in anger almost. He quickly looked to see her running toward him again on all fours, this time she slashed and threw kicks at him, which he managed to still block, but he was still having a tough time.

Eventually he got an idea, jumping back and firing downward at Lynx. When he landed, he continuously fired at her, actually making her destabilize into red xels. Beck dashed into her, absorbing her xels, making his shots stronger and knocking her back.

Lynx kicked to her feet and took a defensive stance. She then rushed at Beck and slashed at him wildly and quickly, actually destabilizing _him_ , revealing light blue xels. Realizing she had her chance, she rolled into Beck as a razor wheel, and he felt some of his xels leave him. Did she know acXeleration?!

No, she didn't absorb any of his xels. This was something different.

Restabilizing himself, he jumped away and looked around. He saw blue xels lying on the ground around them. Those were _his_ xels!

"She's really serious!" Beck said looking up at Lynx as she stood up, "I might be in trouble here!"

Lynx stated walking over to Beck, once again the glare of her glasses making her eyes impossible to see. One thing he could tell though, she wasn't smiling. He could sense intense emotion from her, something like anger directed at him.

"Is this all you're capable of?" Lynx asked, grabbing Beck by the neck and holding him up, "Your weakness disgusts me."

"L-Lynx…!" Beck said.

"I bet all of the Mighty Numbers are this weak," Lynx said, "Considering they see you as their shining star. After I finish you off, I might just take all of them on too, ripping each and every one of them apart, piece by piece, xel by xel."

"N-no!" Beck shouted through gritting teeth.

"And after I finish with them, I might just go after _her_ next," Lynx said venomously, "She's the weakest one out of all of you. She couldn't even stand up to me."

"Don't… you… _dare…_ touch… Call!"

"Or what? What are you going to do to defend her, Beck?" Lynx asked, her grip around his neck tightening, "You and I both know you can't do anything without her or one of your siblings helping you. That's why you're weak. You can't stand on your own, and your powers are limited. You can't grow stronger than this, not without the help of your "family". Not me though. I'm strong. I'm stronger than you, Phoenix, Sir Darwin, all of your siblings, _everyone_! I'm the strongest robot in the WORLD!" she shouted as she threw Beck into a wall. He fell to the ground, and the whole crowd gasped in shock.

"BECK!" all eight of the Mighty Numbers cried out at once.

"B-Beck…!" Call cried, trembling watching the fight as tears streamed from her eyes.

"Damn it, rise up Predator!" Ray shouted, gritting her teeth in both anger and fear. That _was_ her baby brother after all.

As Lynx sauntered over to Beck, his thoughts went to her words. If he lost here, would she go after his brothers and sisters? Would she go after Call? Would she even stop there? Was the Professor, Dr. Sanda, Trinity, and Mr. Graham in danger? Could Ray even stand up to her?

 _Professor…_

 _Dr. Sanda…_

 _Ray…_

 _My siblings…_

 _Call…_

 _I have to protect them…!_

 _I… can't… LOSE!_

Suddenly, Beck's entire body felt like it was on fire. His xels felt empowered by energy, and his core was beating hard. Still on the ground, he tightened his fists and gritting his teeth, rising to his knees as Lynx stood over him.

"This is the end," Lynx said, "Good bye… Mighty no. 9."

She raised her clawed hand to slash at him, but stopped when Beck pointed his Buster Gun at her. He suddenly had a blue aura around his body, and his power was growing, more and more, almost as if his xels were reacting to his emotions. He looked up at her, his glare actually making her recoil back a bit.

"Don't… threaten… MY FAMILY!" he screamed. Something odd happened. His Buster Gun started charging up with energy, and he fired it point blank at Lynx, sending her falling back screaming.

"My God!" the announcer shouted, "Beck unleashed a new power!"

* * *

"William, did you program that shot into Beck?" Dr. Sanda asked.

"I didn't!" Dr. White said, "I think… Beck's powers are still growing!"

* * *

Beck rose to his feet, and screaming in anger ran over to Lynx firing at her, that blue aura still surrounding him. Lynx tried to block, but she found his shots still piercing her, and she destabilized. Beck wasted no time acXelerating into her, making her slide back.

* * *

"W-what happened to Sempai?" Tiger asked, holding onto Dr. Valentine's arm in fear.

"I think… Beck is using the Rage Circuit…" Dr. Valentine said, clearly shocked, "But… how he gained that power I don't…"

While the rest of Team Blitz looked shocked and worried, Phoenix looked at Beck intently, and then gave the biggest toothy grin.

"Yes…! Yes! YES!" she said to herself, "That's what I want to see, Beck!"

* * *

Lynx looked up at Beck, who was still glaring at her with that blue aura surrounding him, a look of pure rage coming over her.

"Why…?" Lynx seethed, "Why do you have that power…?! I'm the strongest robot in the world…! Not you…! Me…! Me! ME!" as she screamed, a red aura shot off of her, and she glared at Beck with a look of pure hatred, "I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! I'M GOING TO DESTROY YOU MIGHTY NO. 9!"

Both Beck and Lynx rushed at each other screaming in rage. Once they reached each other, they fired, slashed, kicked, acXelerated, everything they could to each other, neither one getting the one up on the other.

Lynx charged up her claws and slashed, but Beck moved out of the way. Beck then pointed his Buster Gun at her face and charged it, but she ducked right as he fired, and kicked him off his feet. Beck acXelerated away from Lynx, sliding on the floor and firing his Buster Gun. Lynx slashed all of his shots away though, and turned into a razor wheel tackling Beck. She then proceeded to slash and kick Beck, knocking him into the wall behind him and then holding him by the neck.

Sadly, the blue aura around Beck vanished, as the intense fire died down.

"How did you do that?!" Lynx asked, "How did you use the Rage Circuit?!"

"Rage… Circuit…!" Beck asked, "What are… you…!"

"Don't play dumb with me! You used it just now! Did Dr. Sanda share the technology with you?! Did your creator give you that power?! Do you siblings have the same power?! ANSWER ME BECK! WHY DO YOU HAVE THE SAME POWER AS ME?!"

She was about to slam her fist into Beck's face, which with how tired he was would have finished him off, but Phoenix flew down just in time and grabbed her arm.

"That's enough, sister," Phoenix said, "It's over."

Lynx turned to Phoenix, the Rage Circuit deactivating. She then pulled away from Phoenix, released Beck, and then screamed in rage walking out of the stadium.

"Beck…" Call said, immediately running out to the stadium to his side and helping him up.

"Um… I guess the winner of this match… is Lynx!" the announcer said, "Yet and still, let's give a hand to Mighty no. 9 for putting up a fantastic fight!"

Even though he lost, the crowd cheered loudly. Lynx stopped and turned to where Beck, Call, and Phoenix stood, and then continued walking out.

"Are you alright, Beck?" Phoenix asked Beck.

"Y-yeah…" Beck said, "Tired… and _really_ sore, but okay."

Phoenix nodded smiling softly, "You did good. I'm proud to call you my rival."

With that, Phoenix flew out of the stadium back to her siblings and creator, the latter looking at Dr. White and Dr. Sanda with an unreadable expression.

* * *

"Your power is incredible Predator," Ray said looking at Beck with wide eyes, "Truly terrifying."

She jumped off the pillar away from the Colosseum. The hunger was beginning to get to her, so she needed to feed before investigating this new power.

The Rage Circuit...

* * *

Call brought Beck back in the hall, where Beck fell to one knee in pain.

"Beck, are you still damaged?" Call asked.

"Y-yeah," Beck said, "Still, I don't know how I did that. My power grew… when I heard-" Beck was cut off by Call embracing him tightly, "C-Call?"

"I was… afraid… that I would… lose… you…" Call said. Her voice was still monotone a bit, but Beck could sense the tiniest hint of emotion radiating from her words. Beck returned the embrace just as tightly.

"I told you I wouldn't die," Beck said smiling, "I had to come back to my partner."

Beck looked down at his hand, still unsure of what happened. He didn't have the Rage Circuit, did he? Yet and still, according to Lynx, he used it. Knowing that he could be that powerful was amazing, but more than anything…

It was terrifying…


End file.
